Hands Free Flow

Greetings, we're going to do a practice without our hands. So let's start with a little rotation for our trunk and then we'll bring our energy right down to our feet. Inhale your arms up, fold your elbows, look up just to know what forearm is closest to you, side bend over to your left, firmly plant your right foot into the mat. Inhale, slowly come up, side bend over to the right, feel the connection of your left foot and then inhale, come all the way up through center. Reach those arms up, take them wide and down and then reach them up over the head.

And I'm switching my forearm, yeah, that's just so I have less preference. And go ahead this time and twist to your right first. If your gaze wants to come with you, wonderful, if you want to look forward, that's acceptable too. And then come through center and go ahead and twist to your left. Feel your breath in and out.

And then come through center, reach both arms up and take your arms down by your sides. Now I'm going to turn to my side just so you have a great viewing. We're going to do some foot ankles. I love these because they're deceptively challenging. Inhale, rise your heels as your arms come up horizontal and then exhale, lower your heels and your arms just brush stroke down, okay?

Two more, inhale, rising, elevator up on the toes and then exhale, arms sweeping down, making up posterior chain, back of the legs, last one, inhale and exhale. Slowly you're going to sit yourself into the chair pose. The arms will come forward a little more, activation, that could be your exhale and your inhale, you rise. So just two more here, feeling your breath as you exhale, enlivening your legs, inhale coming up. And then one more, exhale sitting down, inhale all the way up.

So now we're going to add a movement of folding that left thigh in. You will see this in the practice. So just making that right leg column-like, sturdy, even though there are the wiggles and then release. Now you'll fold the right thigh into the chest. Feel that left leg guiding you to the ground, reach up through the ground of the head and then slowly release.

Turn your left foot out and fold your left thigh in. This is very reminiscent of Tree and then release the leg forward, ground down through the left, turn the right foot out, fold that thigh in, really hydrating, a little wiggle there more for me in the balance, lucky because I get to feel that. And then slowly, gently release that foot. We're going to do three half sun salutes. So inhale your arms up, exhale, fold forward and down, inhale, lift chest, exhale, fold.

Inhale you can roll up, that's what I'm doing, or if you prefer a straight spine, have at it. I'm going to add Urdhva Hastasana, a little or a big back bend and then a sweep of a fold forward, exhale. Just starting to feel the rhythm in the practice, inhale, Ardha Uttanasana. This time I'm taking my hands to my calf, squeezing my elbows towards each other, inhaling, coming up straight, spine again, if rounded is your thing, do that, little or big back bend, exhale, lead with your heart, squeeze those inner thighs, recruiting that muscular energy, in breath, lengthen, out breath, fold, inhale all the way up, whatever way feels right aligned for you, and then bring the hands to prayer. So here we go.

We're going to add on, fold your left thigh in, feel your breath, pull on those shin bones, chest and thigh towards each other. Now this left leg is going to go back, and as it goes back, I'm in crescent, my hands come to my hips, inhale, straighten, only the right leg, exhale, bend. I'm squeezing my elbows so my chest stays bright, inhale, right leg straight, exhale, bend. One more, in breath, out breath, and then take your left arm up, invest in a side bend here. Now right away I push my left heel back, as I reach my left arm over to the right, inhale, come through center, arms down as you exhale, and step, left foot forward, upright and even.

So both feet grounding you, fold right thigh in, here you are, here to breathe and feel and step right leg back. If you need a wider stance like I do because I get that moment of a little bit of rocking, do that, squeeze the elbows, back leg activated, inhale, left leg straight, exhale, bend. In breath, gliding the leg towards straight, exhale, bend. I just adjusted my pelvis because I felt like, oh, I needed that, inhale, and then exhale, I slide my right leg back because I know what's about to happen, right arm up, left hand grabs that wrist, sit, side bend, a bit of a cohesive opening all the way through the front of the right thigh as well. Wonderful friends, inhale up, arms down, right foot forward.

Really feel how wonderful it is to breathe and ground down. This time, we're going to add on a bit more coordination. So go ahead and fold that left thigh in and step the left leg back into crescent. This time you're going to bend your left knee, right knee, arms can be bent out in front or you can cactus, I'm going to take mine right out in front, inhale, straighten both legs and arms and then exhale, draw the energy into the center line. Knees bent, elbows bent, inhale, exhale.

One more time, inhale, exhale, both knees bent, now straighten that left leg, slide it back and reach your left arm forward and your right arm back, a little twist here, and then bring both arms forward and step the left foot forward, ground. I'm starting to feel that energy rise, fold that right thigh in, I hope that's happening for you and whatever you're experiencing, feel it. Take the right leg back, bend the right knee, elbows are bent, here we go, flossing, inhale, that's what I call this, exhale, it's a great amount of a challenge for the breath, inhale and for the nervous system, exhale, a little flossing, does a good inhale for the body, exhale. Now on this one, you straighten that right leg, feel a laser through the right heel, right arm forward, left arm back, hello to yourself in the twist, beautiful, elbows forward, straight foot forward, down with the feet, up with the heart space, lengthen through the crown, always beginning again, what a gift, fold that left thigh in, going into warrior one, so when the left leg goes back, track it back in your mind, if you need to track it back in your eyes, look back, sit deeply and then swivel, left ribs forward, I need a wider stance, so I scooch my foot back and then I swivel, you do you, breathe, see if you can track that right knee above the ankle, moving the thigh bone on the right in the direction of horizontal, breathing in and breathing in, hands prayer, pivot onto left toes, step forward, ground down, a little effervescence in the body, yeah, a little brightness, fold that right thigh in and then step it back, sit, remember we work the pose from the ground, we siphon up that earth energy, if your hands need to be on your hips or cactus, arms above, maybe palms together, here you are, breathing, hmm, and it feels so wonderful for the full, for the body to have a new perspective, okay, I'm stepping back but really I'm moving forward, hands prayer onto the right toes, back foot forward, wonderful job my friends, let's take a little respite, just a momentary respite from stepping back and come into Utkatasana, hmm, sit, pull the hands into prayer, take your right elbow outside your left knee, you are primed for this twist, yeah, breathing in, breathing out, swivel, swivel twist, twist, maybe you lower right arm and lift left arm, maybe you slide right knee back, I don't know, stay curious, hands prayer, come through center, stand tall, inhale, exhale sit, the hips back, hands in prayer, left elbow outside, now I just want to remind you here my sense is that my left knee starts to slide forward, if that's your sense, slide it back, left arm reaches up, I'm down, excuse me, right arm reaches up, one more breath, one more breath, and then hands in prayer through the center, stand tall, how you feeling, anchored in that earthing of the feet, fold your left thigh in, hmm, right here, right now, warrior two, right knee bends, left leg goes back, surf that breath in the body, alright, we're just title beings, mostly water, reach, so now when you come into this pose, sometimes the toes clot the mat, that might not happen for you, it does for me, so I have to just remind myself, steer arms, come, sweetness, strength, let's reach up with the right arm and down with the left and then be bright in the chest, breathe, breathe, breathe, inhale, come up through, warrior two, forearm to thigh, left hand can go on hip, or left arm could go straight up, could go over, I'm going to keep my palm facing the ceiling, reach, if I want a little more depth I might slide that left hand behind, smooth the breath out, hmm, I don't know about you, my right leg is cooking right now, inhale, come up through warrior two, straighten the right leg and then bend it, bring the hands to prayer, pivot onto the left toes, how we exit, step the left foot forward, breathing in, I'm breathing in, the breath is wonderful in through the nose and out through the nose and now the right thigh folds in, the breath is deep, the right leg steps back, you can futz with your stance, do you, breathe, sit, back foot, fourth and fifth toe grounded, arches of the feet lifted, that's where our core begins, and then you feel how can I embody a hero, vira, warrior two and then you reverse, you might choose a dristi that's down, you might choose a just dristi to the side, your gaze, maybe you look up, a wellspring inside of you, inhale, come up through warrior two, left forearm to thigh, right hand where you like it, on the hip, straight up, over, possibly wrapping it behind, remembering that this practice is here for you, for you, you don't have to be perfect at it, it's a process and it's progress, that's why we practice, inhale up through warrior two, straighten the leg, it gives the leg a brief moment to pause and then bend, hands come to prayer, pivot on that right foot and then step right foot forward, friends you can stay at the top of your mat, I'm going to move to the middle of my mat just in case you need to see where the pose is taking you, so you will slowly cross your left ankle in front of your right thigh, that's the figure four, bring your hands right back to anjali mudra and then start to lower your pelvis down, now your body might remember this from the opening in the practice, when we had those moving utkatasanas, it was easier on two legs for sure and then slowly you'll stand and release the left foot down, regroup by grounding yourself, cross your right outer ankle in front of your left thigh and then slowly lower down, we remind ourselves with our hands in prayer that the effort and the ease, the energy we put in is what matters, if the wobble is big or little, no big deal and then slowly stand tall, release your feet, ground yourself down, nice work friends, now I'm going to join you back at the top of the mat, let's take our feet wide for malasan squat and take the seat down, we'll do a couple rounds of lower and rise, lower and rise, I like to inside have that mantra, that nadam, that sound penetrating layers of satnam, if you're not feeling that just rise up with me as you inhale and then let your pelvis lower down as you exhale, if you want to echo inside sat as you rise and nam as you lower, I'm with you there sat and nam, we use that mantra to update our operating system and to really just enliven again us, so maybe two more for you, that's where I am and I know where this is taking us, so now on the down, can you stay down, can you stay down and you know your hands stay in prayer because they're going to do their best to help you take a seat, if you need them to help you take a seat, I suggest you place your hands down, so I'm going to sit down, that happened and then I'm going to scooch my bum back a smidge a smidge more, maybe I get to the middle of my mat, my feet are forward, my heels dig into the mat, I hope yours do too, flex your feet, bring your prayer hands to your heart and then tilt back just enough where the call to action in your belly is, oh okay here I am, twist to your left, come through the center, I'm keeping my hands at my sternum, twist to your right, come to center, let's go back to the left if you think feel a note, gee I need more, then lift that right leg, keep it flexed, foot and then put the right foot down as you come through the center, as you twist to the right if you need more, elevate and lift the left leg, keep the foot flexed, twist and then release, let's do one more round, you choose what flavor of the twist to the left with the leg lifted or not and then come back through center and then go ahead and go to the right, warming through the belly and then release, all right friends turn the palms of the hands up, straighten the legs, why not and then scoop the belly and roll down, roll down, roll down, maybe you'll get an adjustment like I just did, slide your heels in, let's do the breathing bridge at least that's what I call it, so all you have to do is peel your pubic bone, your tailbone, that sweet articulating of the spine and the hands will rise up over shoulders either right toward the ceiling or over your head, I'm just going to keep mine here and then slowly when my spine comes down my arms like those brush strokes at the beginning of the class are going to come with, so just two more inhaling as you rise it up, exhaling as you brush stroke the arms down, we just have one more friends okay, inhale, exhale, this is a great moment for a modified fish or a full fish, if you know fish go ahead and go into it, if you need to watch a modified version I'm going to start there, so first I begin by puffing my chest, rolling my shoulder blades in and up and then lifting my head up and back, in this moment I'm going to reach my palms together out in front and I could just stay here really lifting through the chest, if you want to add on your legs can come up and out, this moment you point those toes tether that navel breathe, breathe, breathe and then land the feet, lay on the arms, come down, straighten your legs friends, great work here for you, you recline and you have that moment to restore and that moment can last as long as you like or you can join me rolling to one side, coming up to seated, bringing your hands right back to your heart center in prayer, what a gift to practice, namaste.