Repeat and Reflect

Welcome, friends. We're going to do a practice of reflection. So we'll spend a lot of time on one side and we'll be repeating and then we'll reflect. So come on and join me on all fours because that's where we match our effort with our energy, hands below your elbows, below your shoulders, right? So that's the long pillar, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hands spread.

Your thigh bones are parallel and also like columns. Let's round our back as you exhale and we'll just take one inhale into arching our spine and then ever so slowly you're going to lift your right leg. So as your right leg lifts, yeah, you're going to circle it out, down and around. So small circles out, down and around. I'm just doing three of them.

You can make them bigger. They could go faster. And then we're going to do three in the other direction. And here's what I'm noticing in my body is that I'm leaning a little bit more into my left hand. So I want to put more energy into both arms.

Yeah, I feel that. And then go ahead and lift that right thigh, extend the right leg and the left arm. And now let's tap, elbow to knee, exhale, inhale, reach. So here's some balance here, exhale. And then inhale, we just have one more, exhale.

Now when you reach that left arm forward and that right leg back, feel that stretch and then put the left hand on the left hip and bend the right knee. In this moment, if it's available, you grab that right foot with your left hand. If it's not available, no force. Just meet yourself where you are and see about kicking at the same rate that there's a little squeeze in those inner thighs. Relax your shoulders and then slowly get out of there.

Take a moment, come into child's pose. That's your reflection moment. Yeah. Turn the palms of your hands up. You get one breath here.

Hmm, I'm keeping my gaze forward, just giving my neck a little stretch. You could put your forehead on your mat. And then the hands come down and we restack, shoulders, elbows, wrists, and we begin again. Round the back, exhale, articulate the spine the other way, inhale, lift the left knee and circle out down and around. So my hands are working in these next two circles to find balanced action.

And then I reverse and go the other way. I'm also incorporating a little bit of that navel to spine and that focus to keep me centered. Now when you straighten the left leg, you reach the right arm. Some people call this bird dog and then you'll tap elbow to knee and reach. Two more, exhale, inhale.

Last one friends, exhale, inhale as you reach, put your right hand on the hip, bend your left knee, just simply look to the right and then decide, can I grab my foot without any extra work in my face, kick the right shin bones into the mat, squeeze that left thigh a little right. I can feel that wonderful flossing. And then slowly get out of there and land in child's pose, extended style. This time, tented fingertips. You can gaze forward or your forehead can be down, breathe.

And now you'll move into downward facing dog. So we come into down dog, peddle our feet, bring some energy into a midline and we begin on the right side. So lift the right leg, step that right foot forward, yeah, lower the left knee down, the top of the left foot, each leg in their own lane, inhale your arms up, exhale, place your hands on the floor, flex your left foot, elevate your left knee and reach your right arm toward the ceiling, the sky and sit a little deeper, easeful twist, easeful twist. And then put the right hand down, come into down dog. The gift is that we're skipping Chaturanga, however we are coming into plank, inhale to the plank and exhale to the dog.

Feel that breath, lift the right leg, yep, same right leg, step the right foot forward, come into warrior one. Here you are, warrior one, swivel the contents of the left hip forward. If you need more space, feel free to move your right leg into the right lane and then you can keep the hands on the hips, you can cactus your arms, or if you like, your arms can come above you. Some people like to reach them forward with the palms together just to keep the traps easy, look forward. I like to pay attention to my feet and how they ground and they siphon up that earth energy.

And then I'm going to pull my prayer to my heart and open to the side for warrior two, which means my feet have to adjust and I'm okay with that. And then I reach my arms and I sit into that right thigh. And as I travel inward, I really just notice how much am I gripping in my toes? Hmm, inhale, straighten the right leg, yeah, slurp that thigh bone in and slide down and into triangle. So here you are in the triangle now, now, now, now, yeah, that's it.

That's the repeat. That's the reflect here, here, here. Bend the right knee, put both hands on the floor, come into the plank pose, yeah. And breath in, out breath to dog. Now, you just observe, witness what you feel if the sensations are more or less in one side, not better or worse, just more or less.

Inhale plank, exhale dog, hmm, again, lift the right leg, step the right foot forward. This time we skip warrior one and we go right into warrior two, and we linger for a moment. And we notice, and we become the observer, how am I being right now? How am I feeling right now? Can I fit deeper in, deeper in?

And then I just wait, beautiful, straighten right leg, hands on hips, feet turned parallel. I'm going to just kind of heel toe my left leg in, so my toes are in the same line, yeah. Inhale lift the chest, squeeze the elbows, exhale, fold forward and down, press side out, butt out to nothing. So you fold your hands white, your mat. If you want to, you can add on that inhale, lift and extension in the spine, and then exhale fold.

And here you are breathing, and here you are being, and here you are. So the energy that both feet feel pressing into the floor, the floor presses back. And then we inhale, lift our chest, and you will walk your feet wide. Now when you walk your feet wide, it is just the intention to find that right aligned with. That's it, that right aligned with.

What do I mean by that? Like, not so much you feel like a wishbone, and you have nothing to prove to anyone, yeah. Just right here, just right here. And then maybe you'll come onto your forearms. Here you are here to breathe.

And then slowly you'll come up, heel toe your feet in, we're still moving, we're just moving a little slower. Turn your right heel, pivot on it, I move my right leg into its own lane, and lower your left knee down. This is where half Hanuman happens, this is where there's a lot going on in the right leg. We've spent some time nourishing the right leg, yeah. So we flex the right foot, you can stay here, this is a beautiful expression.

Some people like to round the back, some people like a straight spine, you can decide. One other option would be to bend the right knee and slide the left leg back and slide the right foot forward more, for more of a Hanuman. If you had a block, sure, you could prop it underneath the right leg. If your body feels like, wow, this is early, this is a lot, just feel. Give yourself one more breath.

And then, with grace, get out of there. I put my right arm on the inside, I like to sweep my right leg back. Here I am on all fours, ooh, I remember this shape, round the back, exhale, inhale, extend. Right hand forward, left hand forward, downward facing dog. Something's happening on the right side, yeah.

Inhale plank, exhale dog. Yes, it is finally time, left side, lift the left leg. Step the left foot forward, lower the right knee down, inhale the arms up, start where you are, use what you have, do what you can, Arthur Ash said that. Bring your hands down, flex your right foot, elevate your right knee, and then lift that left arm up, ease full twist, ease full twist. My legs are really engaged right now, totally engaged right now.

Good, left hand down, plank pose, dog pose, plank, inhale, exhale dog. Left leg lifts, quietly step left foot forward, warrior one, here we are again. Heel to heel or left leg in its own lane, yeah, hands on hips, sit, breathe, you want to cactus the arms, go for it. Reach the arms up, palms apart or together, relax, breathe, in, breathe, out. Tune in, right, tune in, hands prayer, open warrior two, I move my feet heel to heel, I surf that breath in my body and then sit, warrior two.

So I am inquiring inside myself, where is there room to reach without overextending? Where is there room to fine tune, fine tune with precision? I linger, and then inhaling, straighten the left leg, if the stance feels too wide, narrow it, uttita trikonasana, five long lines of energy, and in that space, the breath, the freedom, the awareness that the feet are planted and the arms are reaching, here to be, to breathe, to be with my breath. Bend left knee, hands come down, plank pose, right, you're doing a great job. Downward facing dog, feel, forward, plank, dog.

So you sharpen that aperture of focus on the left side, reflecting, I think of it like when you put paint in a piece of paper and you fold the paper, lift the left leg, yes, we do, and step the left foot forward, warrior two. And this warrior two, we give ourselves a little more permission to just be with it with the breath, to just settle in to the shape, and we are moving as well. And then very, very slowly, very, very mindfully, you'll straighten that left leg, and you'll turn your toes in, pressarita. Now I step my feet in at first because I want that nice, even press, inhale, lift chest, exhale, hinge, this time I'm taking my piece fingers to my big toes. If you want a different expression for this, have at it, inhale, lift your chest, and then exhale fold, super activated legs, super activated legs because we know what's to come here.

So that spinal line is tractioning and my arms are really, really working, elbows above wrists, no break in my wrist here. And then very slowly friends, yes, wide leg lateral, wide leg lateral, cohesive opening, not a crowd favorite, not a crowd favorite. And yet there is something happening onto the forearms. For some people, it may feel like nothing, and for others, it may feel like everything. And I kind of just notice, oh, okay, what's happening on the inner lining of my legs?

That's refreshing, that's refreshing. And then as I douse my body with more breath, I come onto my hands, I pivot on my right toes and my left heel, and I lower the right knee down. And yes, Ardha Hanuman could be where you linger. You're slurping the thigh bone in, breathe, or you're feeling like there's a little more permission in your legs. And we know that it's just a practice, we know that it's just a practice.

We know that it's a mindful practice, that it's not a result oriented practice. So we come to the mat with that, with our breath. One more breath here, and then the left arm comes on the inside, we have that graceful exit. Oh, here we are again, all fours, thank goodness. Spread the fingers around the back, exhale, articulate the spine into the inhale.

Reach left arm forward and then right, downward facing dog. Maybe there's a little more equanimity in my legs. There's a little less preference, inhale plank, exhale dog. Now you can walk your feet up to your hands and come to your seat, or you can jump. I'm going to walk because I like those steps, and then sit.

Please join me here, yeah? Both feet forward, inhale your arms up, Paschimottanasan. So now we have two legs forward, the hands could be on the five, the hands could be outside the knees, you can go for the ankles. Maybe you'll grab the feet, slack in your jaw, right? Slack in your jaw, why do I say that?

Because the tension in the face translates through the spine, hmm, breathe, inhale slowly come up, let's sneak in a figure four, okay? Cross your right ankle on top of your left thigh, slide your left heel in, lift your chest, flex that right foot. I love a figure four, let's just lift and breathe, breathe and lift, lift in the chest and breathe, and then exhale, slide the left leg back out, twist into the opening, and then release the right leg, cross the left foot, slide the right heel in, and then lift your chest. Remember the epicenter of this stretch is your right and left rotators. When you're crossing that left ankle in front of the right thigh, it's the left rotators.

I find if I move my right foot, the one on my mat, a little right, it intensifies it a bit. In, breathe out, in, out, slide your right foot forward, take that opening stretch into that right side, and then release. Come on down onto your back, come on down onto your back. How about one half bridge? How about it?

I'm going to slide my heels in and just peel and lift up, and it feels wonderful that I have both feet on the floor, and I'm elevating my pelvis and feeling the front of my hip flexors, my quads, my upper thighs, whatever you want to call them. They are grateful to work together and collaborate, and then slowly come down, release your legs. If there's a half two left in your practice, like you must do a happy baby go ahead, otherwise we recline, we shade our eyes, we deepen our breath. You can stay here as long as you like, or you can join me in completing the practice by slowly rolling to one side and coming up to seated. If you're staying reclined, honor that.

Hands heart center in prayer. We just find ourselves reflecting and allowing ourselves to just be where we are. Namaste.