Sacral Chakra: The Quads

Hello, everyone. You're welcome. Today's sequence, we're going to be focusing on a flow that's going to help us emphasize the muscles in our quads and hip flexors, right? So in other words, we're going to do a bunch of poses that's going to help us get into the front parts of our legs. And there won't be anything needed for today's practice and no need to grab any props, but if you got your body, you got yourself, you're all good to go. So when you're ready, you're going to join me on a seat and we're going to be in right in the seated position and go from there. Okay, so when you're ready, legs can be crossed if it's a comfortable position. Let your legs be long, allow your legs to be long, right? The hands are going to come to your thoughts and you're going to close your eyes for a moment just to ground before we move. Good. Okay, so allow yourself to feel a little more pressed into the seat. And then as you inhale, you might find a little lift in the heart just to extend the spine. But then allow the shoulders to relax away from the ears, feel some space around the neck so there's just some room to be open. And then take a few smoother inhales, just a couple slower exhales here. And just feeling that rhythm of a calmer pace of breath. Okay, and then as your eyes float open, you're going to transition into down dog on the mat. Okay, and in down dog, you're just taking a few moments in your practice just to move freely. Okay, so allowing yourself to say hello to any part of your body that you're speaking to you right now. Alright, if you need any ideas, you might start with the legs. I press the heels a little deeper into the mat, you can bend the knees as deep as you need to. Alright, let the chest relax a little more into the floor, you might extend through the hips just to feel that length throughout the body. Alright, press the palms into the floor, allow the fingers to open up a bit, but anywhere you can make space in the body right now, let this be your space to move. Okay, and then you're going to pause alright, take a deep breath in. And as you exhale, step the right foot in between both hands, you're going to come into low lunge. So left knee drops to the mat, untuck the back toes and your hands are going to come on that front thigh. Alright, and then for a moment, I want you to rock the weight back so much that you're stacked above that left knee, and instead of being forward in low lunge today, think of it as being upright. Okay, crawl your front foot a little more towards the top of the mat, and then bring your hand to your left glute for a moment. Okay, so paying attention to this back leg, press the top of the foot into the floor, and then squeeze the glute muscle so you feel like a lot of activation in that back leg, but you start to feel that front hip turn on. Alright, keep that effort, you're going to slowly sink into that front hip a little bit more. If you feel like you want to take this a little deeper, that front foot might crawl up, but feel as if you can reengage that back leg so there's an emphasis in that front hip opening. So press the back leg, sink into the hips, and then create all this space from your front hip all the way to your chest for a moment. You're going to breathe. On your next inhale, you're going to stretch the arms overhead. As you exhale, bring your hands down to the mat, you're going to step your front foot back in a down dog. So pause it for a moment. If you want to continue that movement in between the poses, you're welcome to it. And when you're ready, your exhale is going to send your left foot forward in between the hands. So drop the back knee, hands on your front thigh for a moment, and in just a little more space, you're going to crawl that top foot up. Nice. And again, bringing the body back a little bit so you're stacked above that back knee. Right hand comes to your glute, and then just focusing on that back leg. Right. Press down to the top of the foot. Squeeze the glute muscles so you engage that back leg, but feel a little bit of work in that front hip. Keeping that effort, you're going to slowly sink down to the mat just so you can make some space. Right again, if you need to take it further, that front foot can crawl, but you go to that space where you feel like it's where you need to be to get that opening. Okay. And again, reengaging through that back leg, press the floor away, hands up through the front of that hip. Nice. Okay. Hands might rest on the thigh, or if any other hand position allows you to feel comfortable, go for it. Good. All right. And then as you inhale, arms over the head one more time. Good. As you exhale, hands down to the mat, down dog one more time. Good. Okay. So then free movement, allow yourself to get into any space right now. Good. Okay. And then coming down onto the knees, you're going to set up all fours and allow your hands to be set up right underneath the hip or shoulder, excuse me. And then the knees right underneath the hips. Okay. And in a cat cow, just to smooth out the rhythm, bring some attention to the spine. Take an inhale, drop the belly, lift the heart and chin. Good. And as you exhale, pull the belly up and in, round your upper back towards the ceiling. Nice. As you inhale, belly comes down, feel that lift through the heart one more time. All right. And as you exhale, press the floor away, draw everything up in it. All right. Take a few more of those in your own, just to feel that rhythm of inhaling to take you in one direction. And then exhale to take you in another. And if you want to kind of let that rhythm go and just move into something that feels good in your body, you're welcome to explore. So hips might sink back onto heels. All right. Elbows can bend deep.

You might feel some space into your arms and shoulders. All right. Let the chest drop, circle through the neck just to move things around. Good. All right. Pause next time you pass through neutral. All right. And I want you to extend that left leg straight back behind you. Nice. So feeling that effort of like taking one of your pillars off the mat, press down through the others. Nice. And then with the right hand, you're going to stretch up, bend that back foot to catch top of the foot with the right hand. All right. So again, you took away another pillar of the balance. So the other two have to work harder to support. And then as if you're kicking that foot into the floor like you did in low lunge, kick into your hand. But with the hand, you're going to pull back to resist that a bit. And then opening that front hip towards the back of the mat. All right. Let the chest lift up. Try to soften that shoulder. Feel like you can lift through the heart. Good. Take a deep inhale. Good. As you exhale, release the foot back. Slowly float the hand and knee down to the floor. All right. Pause in for a moment just to feel that effect. And if you want to move, you can feel free. We're still in that space where you can do your thing. All right. And then when you're ready, that second side. So right leg stretches straight back. All right. Feeling that effort of just like instead of just taking everything off, you take one thing off at a time. All right. And then bend that back knee. Left hand floats up. Grabbing for the foot. Nice. Okay. Kicking into the hand. As if you're pressing the foot into the floor, but that hand is the floor now. You're going to pull back against that. Feel that space across the front of your hip. Lifting the heart up as you bend. Nice. Okay. So again, squeezing through the glute just a little bit. Kick the hand away and pull. One more breath in. Nice. Slowly release the foot. Left hand comes down. Pause. All right.

Last little bit before we move. So again, if anything is calling to you, don't let me hold you. Okay. And then when you're ready, tuck your toes, hips up and back. Down dog. All right. Bend your knees. Look forward in between both hands. You're going to slowly walk your feet to the top of the mat. Come into your forward fold. Nice. And as relaxed as you can be for just a few moments, try to soften everything down to the floor for a bit. Okay. So releasing that effort into the neck, if it feels good, you can shake your head yes and no here just to soften. Right. It also might feel good to sway the upper body. Try to release the back a little more to the floor as you move. Good. Maybe the knees bend. So you can take it one at a time or both at the same time just to release the back and low hip. But whatever feels like you can just soften and let go with right now, let that be your spot to feel that feeling of relaxed or a little more soft or a little letting like a little more let go. Right. Good. Right. And as you inhale, come into a half lift. So hands, see your thighs and caps. All right. Press the chest forward and it feel like you can soften this space around your neck. So shoulders come back just a little bit more. All right. Take a deep inhaling. As you exhale, fold forward. You're going to soften down and relax. Nice. As you inhale, stand all the way up for mountain pose. Reach the arms overhead. And as you exhale, hands all the way down to your sides. All right. Pause it for a moment just to take a deep breath in and then just a smooth deep exhale out. Okay. So moving through this next phase of class, you're just going to pair that big breath with the movement, starting with some salutations. Okay. So half salutations first, you're going to inhale for mountain stretch over and up. And as you exhale, you're going to fold forward, relax over the legs. All right. Inhale for half lift. And then as you exhale, you're going to fold forward and soften down one more time. All right. As you inhale, mountain pose, stretch the arms over the head, deep breath in. Exhale, hands come down into your sides. All right. One more time, try to deepen that breath. Inhale, stretch up. Right. And as you exhale, that entire breath is going to carry you into a fold. So take your time. Nice. As you inhale, find that half lift, hold. As you exhale, soften down and fold one more time. Good. Inhale, mountain pose the entire length of that breath. Feel that smooth inhale. Exhale, hands come down into your sides. All right. One more time, maybe you close your eyes. Inhale, stretch up. Good. As you exhale, again, just soften and down. Feel that feeling of a release for a bit. Nice. As you inhale, half lift, draw the shoulders back a bit. Exhale, fold forward. You soften and relax. All right. Mountain pose. As you inhale, take that time to stretch through the hands. Exhale, hands come down into your sides. Nice. Okay. So keeping that pace, you're going to add in high lunge as well, but we're also going to move through locust and carry that breath through that as well. All right. So mountain pose as you inhale, one more time. Good. As you exhale, fold forward, but take your time as you release. Inhale, half lift. Good. As you exhale, bring the hands to the mat, step the right foot back, keep the heel high. All right. Inhale, arms swing over the head, high lunge. Nice. Exhale, bring the hands to the mat, step your front foot back for down dog. Nice. As you inhale, chest over hands, plank. Exhale, come all the way down to the body. All right. So locust pose, send the arms back. You're going to inhale, lift the chest and chin. Good. As you exhale, hands down on the mat, tuck your toes, press the hips back for down dog. All right. Deep inhale in. Exhale, step the right foot forward, back heel stays up. Nice. Inhale, high lunge, reach towards the ceiling. Good. Exhale, hands on the mat, step your back foot to the front, forward fold. All right. Inhale for half lift. Exhale to soften and relax. All right. Mountain poses you inhale, take your time to the top. Exhale, hands come down into your sides. Nice, y'all. Same thing on the left side, just smooth out the rhythm. Inhale, reach up. Good. As you exhale, just softening but taking your time on the breath. Nice. Inhale, half lift, stretch your heart forward. Exhale, hands on the mat, step your left foot back, keep the heel and knee up.

All right. Inhale, reach up from the floor. Nice. Exhale, hands on the mat, down dog, step back. All right. Inhale, plank pose. Exhale, down to the body. All right. So as you inhale, you can inhalate the fingers as you stretch the arms back for locusts. Squeeze the legs, lift up. Good. Exhale, down dog, tuck your toes. Hips go back. Stay smooth, big breath in. Exhale, left foot forward, keep the back heel up. Good. Inhale, stretch up from the mat. Good. As you exhale, hands on the mat, step to the top, forward fold. All right. Inhale, half lift. Exhale, fold and soften. All right. Mountain poses you inhale all the way to the top. Good. Exhale, hands come down into your sides. Nice, y'all. All right. Pause in for a breath. Deep inhale in. Smooth exhale out. Okay. One more time. Inhale, mountain. Good. As you exhale, soften down and relax your neck and shoulders. Nice. Exhale, half lift. Exhale, hands to the floor, step both feet back. You're going to pause plank. Okay. So again, for anybody who needs it, knees can come down to the mat for any extra support. All right. But if possible, you stand up on the legs, excuse me, stand up on the toes, keep the knees straight. Press the mat away, draw the belly up and in, round your upper back as you push the floor. All right. Deep inhale. Exhale, come down halfway.

All right. Up dog, inhale over the toes, lift your chest towards the front, shoulders, relax a bit. Good. And down dog, tuck your toes, hips up and back. Pause. All right. So let this be a space in your practice where you're just reestablishing the rhythm. All right. We're not pairing the breath with movement in this specific spot, but you still can feel that pace of just a smoother inhale, a smoother exhale, just to ground yourself before we add on. Okay. So take your time. Good. All right. As you exhale, bend your knees, looking between the hands. You're going to slowly walk or hop your feet to the top of your mouth. Nice. Take an inhale, half lift. Exhale, fold forward and soften. All right. Mountain poses you inhale, take your time to the top. Good. Exhale, hands come down into your sides. Good, y'all. Okay. So the most that I ask is that you keep your breath, you keep your rhythm, just establish that through everything that we do. Okay. Last one. Inhale, stretch up for mountain. Good. As you exhale, fold forward, soften your body over legs. All right. Inhale for half lift. Exhale, hands to the mat, step both feet back for down dog. And then from here on out is your flow. So as you inhale over for plank, you can come halfway down or all the way down. All right. You take locusts, up dog, down dog, or any other variation on the belly that feels good for your body. And then everybody meet back and down dog. We're going to pause and just regroup. Nice. Okay. Take your time. All right. At the end of the day, as much as we're doing this physical practice, it's a breathing practice. It's a mental practice. So keeping your mind focused on how you breathe, allow yourself to just come back to a smoother cadence. Nothing forced, nothing rushed, but that ability to kind of keep it calm and soft in the body. Good. All right. As you inhale, right leg is going to float up and back. All right. Bend your knee. You're going to turn the hip open towards the right side of your mat. All right. If it feels good, flex the toes a couple of times, you roll an ankle as much as you need. All right. It may be some big spaces in the right leg, big circles. For me, especially in this sequence, my go-to is like pulling my heel close to my glute and then squeezing that effort in the front hip just to get that quad to work just a little bit more. All right. So you might try that out, see what it feels like. All right. Take an inhale, stretch your top leg back. And as you exhale, step forward, high lunge, back heel up, back knee up, hands at the heart. Good. All right. So settling into a high lunge for a bit, just feel that little bit of a pause. Good. And then focusing on this back leg a little bit more. I want you to bend this left knee so you can free up a little space in the hip. And then with the back foot, try to press the ball into the floor. And it feel like you're trying to drag your back foot towards the top of the mat so that front hip starts to squeeze and engage a bit more. Keep that effort, lock the glute so it's tight. And then straighten out that back knee with all that effort. Okay. So similar to what we did in low lunge at the start of class, sink the hip, pull forward.

And if you want a little more room, you might crawl that front foot up so you can sink deeper, but you're strong through that back leg. Keep feeling that effort of pulling forward. That's good. Okay. Keep the legs strong, going to inhale, arms over the head. Good. As you exhale, hands come down to the mat, step the right foot back, down dog. Right. If it feels good, you inhale, chest over hands to float. Halfway or all the way down. Locust, up dog, down dog, any variation. Nice. Down dog as you exhale, you pause. Good. All right. Second side when you're ready. Inhale, left leg up and back. All right. Bend the knee, hip open. All right. So again, if you want to explore it on this side, again, my go-to is like pull heel in, flex that front hip, squeeze so much that I get a little engagement, but that hip starts to open on its own. Good. Inhale, top leg back. Exhale, step forward, high lunge. Okay. So back heel up, back knee up, hands at the heart just to pause and breathe. Good. All right. And then one more time, you're going to bend that back knee. Feel as if you can press the ball of your back foot into the mat. And then you're creating that effort like you're trying to pull your back foot forward so the front of your hip starts to work. All right. Keep that effort. Squeeze the glute muscles so you lock all that in and then straighten out the knee as much as possible. All right. Keeping that effort, you might sink the hips or if you want a little more room, again, you take it as far as you need to in that front foot. Okay. Hands at the heart. Feel that feeling. All right. So that front hip is open. Like you definitely feel it talking to you, but that little bit of engagement is just going to help you build some strength as well as a little more mobility in that spot. All right. Reach the arms over the head. Take a deep inhale. Good. As you exhale, hands to the mat. Down dog, step back. Nice. Okay. So you can pause in your down dog. If you feel the need to flow, you know where you got to go. Good. All right. Bend your knees, look forward and then slowly walk or hop your feet to the top of your mat. Nice. All right. Inhale into half lift. Exhale and fold forward. All right. As you inhale, mountain pose, stand all the way up. Good. Exhale, hands come down into your sides. Nice. Pause in for a moment just to breathe in deep. Smooth exhale just to press it out. All right. Okay. So for a moment, you're going to walk the feet a little wider on the mat just to make some space. All right. And then balancing on the right leg first, you're going to shift the weight over and then lift your left knee up off the mat. Keep it with the knee bent just for a moment. Okay. So in this space, your hip is like tightening. You're closing this part of your body together. So now I want you to do the opposite. You're going to keep the knee bent, but then slowly start to bring it back behind you so you open this up and then stretch that left leg straight back. Squeeze the glute and then lift it as high as you can go with that effort. Right. It might not be that far, but it's all good. All right. Keeping that stretch, pump just a little bit, feeling this effort. Okay. And we're going to do that three times. So inhale, bring the knee up to the chest. Tighten. Good.

As you exhale, extend the leg back, straighten it back up. Squeeze the gluten lift. All right. Number two, inhale, pull it back in. Good. Exhale, swing the knee back. Stretch the leg. Squeeze the gluten lift. All right. Last one. Inhale, pull it back in. Good. As you exhale, extend it back. Straighten out the leg. Squeeze the gluten lift. Hold it. And then just feel a little bit of that extension in the front hip, but that work to hold it up for three. Lift it a little higher for two. Squeeze through your glute. Deep inhale. Exhale, left foot down. Nice. Okay. So especially if you have a body where you're constantly doing this, to do the opposite is just super beneficial to make space, but it might feel a little unique and interesting as well. Okay. So second side, weight into your left foot. Right leg is going to lift up. Okay. And again, just feeling that tension of engagement, that like flexion in the hip hold. Okay. And then starting to send the leg back to open up some space and then stretch the right leg straight back. Squeeze through the glute. Lift it up as much as you can. All right. Little pump just to feel that effort. Okay. And then three times, one more time. Okay. Inhale, draw the knee up and in. Feel the tension, the flexion. All right. And then as you inhale, excuse me, exhale, send the right leg back. Extend through that right leg. Squeeze the gluten lift. Nice. Inhale, pull it back up and in.

Good. As you exhale, send the leg back. Extend. Squeeze and lift. All right. Last one. Inhale, pull it back in. Good. Exhale to extend. All right. Stretch it out. Squeeze the gluten lift at that highest point for three. All right. A little higher. Lift the heart up too. All right. Deep inhale, hold it. Exhale, right foot on the mat. Nice y'all. Okay. Hands down by your side. Try to shake that out if you can. Just loosen. Feel both feet on the mat and relax. Good. Okay. And when you're ready, inhale, arm stretch over hip. Good. As you exhale, fold forward. You're going to soften and relax. All right. As you inhale, half lift. Good. As you exhale, hands to the mat. Step both feet back. Down dog. All right. Taking yourself through a flow. Inhale, chest over hands. Exhale, halfway or all the way down. Up dog. Locust pose. Any other on the belly variation. Good. And then taking a moment just to recollect yourself. Resoften the focus on the breath. That is amazing y'all. All right. Inhale, right leg up and back. Nice. As you exhale, step the right foot forward. You're going to bring the left knee down to the mat one more time. All right. So setting up that low lunge. Same way we did before. Hands on the front hip for a bit. Okay. And then feeling like one more time you can squeeze through the glute. You can press through the top of the back foot. Engage that front hip and hold. All right. So everything will just route in through that part of the body. We're feeling that work. We're feeling that engagement. Okay. And then from here, your left hand is going to come down to the mat. Reach back with the right hand. You're going to bend that back foot to catch the foot like you did earlier. All right. So getting a little more into that front hip. You're stretching the quad. But just as if you were kicking into the floor, I want you to kick into your hand. And then with the hand, you're going to pull back to resist that kick just to feel a little bit of that same resistance. Right. And then giving yourself that effort. Squeeze through the glute. Kick in open space. Nice. Okay. So if it feels good, you might sink into the hip a little bit more. But as much as I can ask, I just want you to kick into your hand. Feel a little bit of that pull back. Nice. All right. Deep breath in. Good.

As you exhale, release the foot. Down dog. Step your front foot back. All right. Taking a flow. Inhale chest over hands. All the way down or halfway. All right. Locust. Up dog, down dog. Whatever you need. Down dog when you're ready. Nice y'all. Okay. Inhale left leg straight up and back. Good. As you exhale, step forward in between the hands. Right knee comes down for low lunge. All right. Hands on the front thigh. Rock it back. All right. Press into the floor. Squeeze that glute and pull forward. Get the hip. All right. Keeping that effort, you might sink. But feeling that effort of grounding the back leg and then working that front quad. Nice. Okay. And in transitioning, right hand comes to the mat. Bend your back knee. Left hand catches the foot. All right. So same thing. As if you're kicking into the floor, now you're in the hand. But with that hand, it's like it is the floor. So you want to pull back against that. So there's just a little bit of resistance, but you feel that work and engagement. All right. Let that effort help you sink into the hip. But feel that squeeze. So you open up the front side of your quad. Take a deep inhale. Nice. Exhale. Release the foot. Down dog. Step back. All right. If you need to flow, you know where to go. Sometimes in your yoga practice, like pausing for a bit is just as necessary. So whatever you do, just allow yourself to find a rhythm. Even if finding a rhythm is pausing and down dog and breathing a little deeper. Good. All right. Bend your knees. Look forward. Slowly walk to the top of the mat. Nice. All right. Inhale for half lift. Exhale. Fold forward and soften. All right. Mountain poses. You inhale. Stand all the way up. Good. Exhale. Hands come down into your socks. All right. Pausing for a breath. Deep inhale in. As smooth as you can. Exhale out. Good. Okay. So having a little more fun. Shift the weight into your left foot. You're going to lift up off your right foot and then reach the right hand back to catch the inside of your right foot. Okay. So similar to what we did in low lunge, right? I want you to kick down into the hand. But with the hand, you're going to resist that kick a little bit, just so there's a little tug, like a little bit of engagement. Right? And then before you lean forward, stretch that left arm up. You're going to kick that right leg as high as you can kick it. All right. And when you get to that point where it doesn't lift up any higher, that's your cue to start to tilt forward. Okay. So allowing yourself to have that same room. Kick into the hand. Feel that little bit of the hip rolling down to the floor, but that engagement to open up. Nice. All right. Take your time. Going to slowly reverse the action. Right foot down, left hand down. Breathe that in. Okay. So feeling all that stuff that we went over before, we're just going to like check those boxes and tilt them to it one more time. All right. So wait until your right foot, left leg is going to lift up, and then left hand to grab the inside of that left foot. All right. Right arm up. All right. Pause in for a moment just to reestablish that feeling, right? Kick into the hand. With the hand, you're going to pull back just to create some resistance. Feeling that engagement in the hip, start to extend that left leg up and back. Good. Then when you get to a point where there's no lift, that's your cue, you tilt forward. All right. Let that back leg lift a little higher, and then keeping that kick in the hand, pull back and roll that front hip down to the floor. All right. Feel that space in your front hip all the way up to the heart. Lift and kick. Nice. Slowly come back, release the foot, both hands down. All right. Take an inhale, shrug your shoulders into the ears. Just feel like it's necessary.

All right. As you exhale, draw the shoulders back and down just to open. Okay. Do that one more time. Inhale, shoulders up a minute. Good. Exhale, draw the shoulders down and back. Okay. Arms come up as you inhale from mountain pose. Nice. As you exhale, fold forward, soften the body and relax. All right. Take an inhale, half lift. Good. As you exhale, hands to the mat, step both feet back, down dog. All right. Flow into your, uh, flowing. Yes. Take an inhale, chest over hands. Exhale, come halfway down or all the way. All right. This pose, up dog, down dog, any variation. Good. Hands on the mat, down dog, send the body back. So take a moment in your down dog just to reestablish that cadence of a breath. All right. So if you can just smooth out the inhale as you breathe in and then just exaggerate that out breath, smooth everything out as you breathe out. All right. Take a deep inhale and as you exhale, you're going to send the right foot to the outside of the right hand foot lizard and then untuck the back toes. Okay. So keeping both hands on the inside of that front foot, it might feel nice to maybe let that knee pop out just a bit and just come out to the outer edge of that front foot. Okay. But the big thing for me is that again, we get this front hip into the equation. You actually like engage that front hip. So any amount that you can press down to the top of the back foot so much so that your knee lifts up. Right. We're not going to stay here forever. Just feeling that effect of what happens in the hip when you lift the knee up. All right. Feel that feeling. Take a deep inhale and then as you exhale, let the knee come down. Okay. So if you can, I just want you to feel a little bit of that engagement. So if the knee lifted off the mat felt nice, you're welcome to relift it. But even if it's just a little bit of that amount, press the top of the back foot into the floor to feel that squeeze and then also squeeze through the glute. So you feel that engagement. You emphasize that work in the front hip, right? Any amount that you can sink the hips into the mat, lift the heart up from the floor. Nice. All right. Take one more inhale just to feel that space. All right. As you exhale, tuck the back toes, step back into down dog. All right. Take a moment. If you feel the need to flow, you're welcome to it. Otherwise you just hold. Find that cadence. Good. All right. On your next exhale, left foot steps outside the left hand, lizard right knee down. Okay. So one more time just to feel that feeling in the back leg and hip.

Press through the top of the foot, lift the knee off the mat. You feel that work. Okay. And again, just what would lizard feel like with a little more engagement just to feel that it up, breath it up. Feel that effect. All right. Deep inhale. Exhale, right knee down. Okay. And in any amount, press through the top of that back foot and then add that glute muscle in. You want to squeeze and drop the hip. All right. Holding what you can, lift the heart away from the floor. And again, like earlier, you just want to think about making space in that front hip all the way to the chest. Nice. All right. One more inhale to press through the foot. Good. As you exhale, down dog's in the front leg back. All right. Last little bit in down dog before we take it a little lower. So whatever you need, you can go for it. Again, a flow is necessary. This is your yoga. All right. Let the knees come down to the mat, release the top of the feet to the floor. You're going to stand on both knees to set up for one final back bend. Okay. So open up the knees a little wider than the hips and then bring the hands to support your low back. Your palms are going to be around the waistline. Let the fingers point down to the floor. All right. And then as much as you can, you want to draw the elbows back and in and then soften the shoulders away from your neck. Okay. And then before we go into a bend, same vibe of pressing the top of your feet into the mat, feel that little bit of a squeeze, pull the glutes in, let the hips open up. Nice. Take a deep inhale, lift the heart up, drop the head back. All right. And then from here, like to me, you're already in the back bend. So you can hold here and just feel that feeling in the spine. If you want to explore a little bit deeper, knees might come down to the heels. All right. And then allowing yourself to continue that press through the feet to lift the heart and everything away from the floor. Nice. So to me and back bends, the front hips are just as important as whatever you're doing behind the back as well. So keeping that front space open, engage through the glutes, lift the heart up a little bit more to find space. Nice. All right. Bring the hand, see your low back to support yourself as you come up and then slowly sink the hips out to the heels just to pause in neutral. All right. So take a moment just to pause. All right. And I really would like to invite that. Like if you can practice the pause, see what that feels like in your yoga. All right. I feel like all too often, a lot of life can be motion, you know, let go, go, go, handle things, get things done. All right. But yoga has always been a reminder that it's okay to pause, but to also see how you respond to a moment of pause. So allowing yourself to breathe, feeling that space to just be still and do nothing for a bit. All right. And take your time, let the eyes foot open. All right. You're going to lie all the way down onto your back. All right. So bottom of the feet on the mat, both knees are bent. All right. Bring the hands to the belly for a moment and just feel that space of your back releasing to the floor. All right. And then slowly draw both knees into the chest. Your hands are going to come to both knees. And then taking a moment just to make a few small circles with the hands on your knees. All right. Allowing yourself to massage the base of your spine, but feeling as if you can like press your lower back into the floor every time you make just a little rotation. All right. Maybe, you know, do one leg at a time. Good. Okay. Keep both knees into the chest. You're going to let both legs fall over to the right side of the body just for a gentle twist. All right. Take a moment. All right. And as you exhale, slowly come onto the back. All right. Pause in the middle for a bit. All right. And then send the legs over to the opposite side, taking a twist in the other direction. All right. Take your time. You're going to do one more time. Slowly come onto the back. All right. Hug the arms around the legs this time. And maybe you grab for the elbows so you can slide to the wrist, the fingers, whatever feels accessible right now. All right. Hug the knees close into the chest. Try to soften through your neck and shoulders. All right. Take a deep inhaling. And then as you exhale, squeeze the knees down and into the body. All right. Do that one more time. Inhale.

As you exhale, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. Nice. All right. And then straighten out the legs down to the floor. Hands can rest in the sides of the body or if you want to bring them to the body for a moment, ground yourself. All right. For just about a minute, maybe two. I want you to take your time to come back to that idea of practicing the pause. All right. For literally just a few moments of your day, feel that feeling of stillness, a little space, or just stopping the motion for a bit. All right. All right. All right.

All right. All right. So feel this feeling of a pause just a little bit longer. All right. If it feels good, you might press out those exhales a little bit more just to soften. And then slowly start to bring a little bit of motion back to the body. So maybe fingers start to flex, toes might move just a bit. Nice. All right. And then taking your time, bringing your knees back up into the chest just to feel that grip, arms around. All right. Fall over to the right side of your body just to feel that space on the right side for a moment. All right. Stay gentle. Try to keep your eyes close. Press yourself up to a seat, and then allow yourself to rest the hands on the thighs. Maybe hands come together at the heart. And try not to rush a moment with yourself. Feel this space with your body. Feel this space with your breath before you start to tap into the rest of the day. All right. Thank you so much for sharing yourself, and I'm grateful just to have this time with you. Namaste.