Spacious Breath

Welcome, yogis. Hi. I'm so glad to be here with you today. We will be practicing a little bit of stability versus ease, or stability and ease, that kind of relationship between steeda and suka today. And with that, we'll be twisting a little bit. Let's get going. Take a seat. Sit on something lifted, a block or a blanket, so that you can plug your sit bones down. And from there, close your eyes. Bring your hands onto your thighs face down. And you can sense from the inside out whether your elbows are, and your hands are too far forward and they're pitching your spine forward. See if you can drag your elbows back a little bit so they release right underneath the shoulders and let that grow your frame. And then start your ujjayi breath from the inside out so that you create, you kind of meet your frame with your breath. Take a deep inhale through the nose. Exhale through the mouth. Inhale for four, three, two, one. Exhale through the nose, six, five, four, three, two, one. Inhale four, three, two, one. Exhale six, five, four, three, two, one. Inhale four, three, two, one. Exhale six, five, four, three, two, one. Exhale six, five, four, three, two, one. Let the breath come and go on its own and simply pay attention to what the shift that is happening from that little amount of breath work. Per usual, we'll start with a little bit of mantra. The words today are babanam, babanam, kevalam, kevalam. Baba is the most innocent part of ourselves, the babe, the baby. That, yeah, innocence. Nam means name and it refers to, it's like we're calling ourselves, calling to ourselves. And kevalam is the most ancient part of ourselves, the part of ourselves that doesn't change through time. It cannot be altered. It's the part that we come in with and the part that we leave with, but it isn't changed by time and space continuum. Babanam, kevalam. Per usual call and response. Listen. Babanam, okevalam, baba. Babanam, kevalam. Now you, babanam, kevalam. Baba. Babanam, kevalam. Babanam, kevalam. Now you, babanam, kevalam. Babanam, kevalam. Babanam, kevalam. Babanam, kevalam. Palms at the heart, deep inhale.

Da. open your eyes and we will meet on your hands and knees. I love that chant because it's like the Jason Mraz equivalent to a chant. Take your blanket and your blocks out to the sides. If you have blocks you might set them on either side of the front of your mat just in case. And then take a few cat cows just to open the spine a little bit. Spread your fingers wide. Inhale open your chest. Exhale round your spine. Now on the inhale open your chest and bow your elbows out this time like a little bulldog. And on the exhale extend the arms and round your spine and roll the inner elbows forward. And one more like that. Widen your elbows out open your chest like a little bulldog. And then as you exhale extend the arms and round your spine. Roll the inner elbows forward. Now find a long spine so you're neither in cat nor cow. You're kind of meeting the front and the back evenly. Now from here you're going to extend the left leg back and anchor the ball of the foot. Point the heel up toward the ceiling and then lengthen your spine. From there lift your left leg up and you're gonna reach it over to the right and cross it over and bring the ball of the foot down onto the floor again. And then reach your left arm out to the right and breathe. Kind of turn the left hip down. Take a few breaths here. You can look over your right shoulder if you'd like. Getting into your side waist. One more breath. And then from there bring yourself back. Left hand right where you found it. Slide the left leg back where you found it. Now spin the left heel down. Remember that little bulldog situation. Bend your right elbow a smidge and then roll the inner elbow forward. Extend your arm. That's gonna keep your shoulder blade on your back and start to roll open to the left. Reach your left arm up. Take an inhale and as you exhale reach your left arm forward. Breathe into your left side body. One more. Now bring your left hand behind your head. Take an inhale. You're gonna plug your left foot down and then as you exhale you're gonna hug your left elbow toward your right knee. Inhale open. Exhale left elbow toward the right knee. Inhale open. One more. Exhale left elbow toward the right knee. Inhale open. Open the left arm up and then sweep that left hand down to the floor. Spin the back heel up. Reach up and back down dog. Split the right leg lifts. Try not to open the hip. Just keep the sort of left hip pulling back. Take an inhale here. Now as you exhale hug the knee in toward your nose. Step the foot right between the hands. Spin your back heel down for a warrior two. Left arm slides forward and up. Come all the way up. Warrior two. Inhale extend your front leg. Arms lift. Exhale bend the knee arms out into a T. Inhale extend. Lift high. Exhale bend. Inhale extend. Lift high. Exhale bend. Inhale extend. Lift high. Turn the right toes to the left. Slide the left arm down your left leg and reach through your right arm. Roll open. Plug that right foot down. One more. Inhale all the way up. Turn your right toes forward. Bend your front knee. Slowly spin your hands down to the floor. Spin the back heel up and step forward. If you want your blocks here underneath your hands you can have them or if you don't want to use your blocks that's fine.

Inhale lengthen your spine. Exhale fold. Round yourself slowly all the way up to stand. Keep your feet hips distance apart. Inhale reach your left arm up. Turn the left palm toward the outside. Hold on to your left wrist with your right hand. Take an inhale lengthen from heel to fingertips and then as you exhale you're going to side bend up and over to the right. Now listen carefully. Keep your left leg long but lift your left heel up so if you've taken well you're lifting your left heel up. Take an inhale and sink the heel down but keep reaching to the right. Yes you've grown an inch or two. Inhale up and as you exhale fold forward over your legs. Inhale lengthen your spine. Step your right foot way back. Bring your right hand underneath your right shoulder and again think of rolling that inner right elbow forward. Your left hand can come on to your left thigh. Now pin the navel to the spine and turn the spine to the left. It's almost like you're trying to lift your navel away from your inner left thigh. Roll open and then if you'd like to reach your left arm up go for it. One more and on the exhale hands down to the floor. Step back downward facing dog. Now listen keep your feet separated and as you come forward into plank you're gonna spin your heels to the right. So it's like a tricycle variation of your side plank. Lift your left arm, inner right elbow reaches forward. Roll open. Take an inhale. On the exhale reach your left arm up over your ears. You've got it. One more breath and as you exhale slowly slowly come into your plank pose. Now listen take an inhale here. As you exhale bring the knees down onto the floor. They're not going to be underneath your hips. They're gonna be a little further back.

That's okay. Lean the weight forward. Exhale halfway down. Elbows point back and then lower all the way down to the floor. Inhale open your chest and as you exhale push back up onto your hands and your knees where all of this started walk your knees in a little bit. Hands underneath your shoulders. On the inhale extend your right leg back. Anchor the ball of the foot. Heel turns up and then from there lift your foot. Slide it over to the left across toward the left side of your mat. It might even be off of your mat. Walk your right fingertips toward the left upper corner. Look over your left shoulder. Breathe. Breathe into your side waist like the bellows of the harmonium or like an accordion. Think that the ribs the intercostal muscles can spread and bring your right hand back under you. Bring your right foot where you found it. Spin the back heel down and roll yourself open into a side plank. Bring your right hand behind your head. Anchor the right foot down. Take an inhale. On the exhale left knee toward left elbow. Inhale open. Exhale left knee toward left elbow. Inhale open. Exhale left knee toward oh it's not the left elbow it's the right elbow yay open. Lower the knee down. Bring the right arm up and turn to face the ground. Right heel lifts. Left leg up and back. Downward dog split. Square those hips. On the exhale step the foot right between the hands. Spin your back heel down. Sweep the right arm forward and up. There's no rush. Open out warrior two. Look over your left fingers. Inhale extend. Lift high. Exhale bend. Inhale extend. Lift high. Exhale bend. Inhale extend. Lift high. Exhale bend. Inhale extend. Turn the left toes in. Slide down your right leg. Reach. Inhale lift up. Coming back into warrior two. Turn your left toes. Bend your knee and then hands come down to the floor. Step the right foot forward. Inhale lengthen your spine. Exhale fold. Round yourself all the way up. Reach your right arm up. Right palm spins toward the outside. Hold on to your wrists with your left hand. Get a little taller from heel to fingers and then side bend up and over to the left. Lift your right heel. Keep the right leg long so you're kind of leaning a little bit more to the left and then slowly slowly sink the right heel without stopping the reach to the left. Inhale up. Exhale fold forward over your legs. Inhale your left foot back. Left hand is right underneath your shoulder. The inner elbow rolls forward.

Right hand on your right thigh. Take an inhale. Really strengthen the left thigh kind of up toward the hip and as you exhale twist your lifting the belly button away from your inner right thigh. Maybe the right arm reaches. One more inhale. As you exhale hands down to the floor. Step back into your downward facing dog. Keep the feet separated. Inhale as you roll forward into your plank. Spin the heels to the left and roll open. The feet are staggered. The right arm might reach up over your ear. Roll the inner left elbow forward. One more and turn to face the ground. Now from here you could lower your knees or you could lower just halfway from into Chaturanga and then all the way down to the floor. Inhale open your chest. Cobra. Now as you exhale come back toward your hands and your knees. Walk your knees forward a little bit. We'll move through all of that and we'll add some texture to it now. Inhale left leg back. Lift the left leg. Slide it out to the right. Walk your left fingertips to the right. Look over your right shoulder. Breathe. Then from there bring your left hand back where you found it. Left foot back. Spin the left heel down. Reach the left arm up. As you exhale hand to head and bring the elbow toward the knee. Inhale open. Hover. Lower the knee down. Spin the back heel up. Downward dog split. Right leg lifts. On the exhale step the foot right between the hands. Spin your back heel down. Left arm reaches forward and up. Come all the way up. Vira 2. Inhale extend your front leg. Turn the right toes to the left. Slide down your left leg. From here slide your right hand down toward your left ankle. Now listen carefully. Inhale your left arm up. You're twisting toward the left. Bend your right knee and lean back and sweep your left arm up overhead over your ear. Bend your right elbow. That's the bottom elbow and turn your chest a little bit more to the left. From there you're gonna keep the left arm in the same relationship that it's in toward the ear. Release your right hand. That's the bottom hand. Turn your right toes forward and sweep the right hand to the inner right foot. You can grab a block if you need it or slide your forearm onto your thigh for your side angle. Notice what that did to your right sit bone. Kind of curling the sit bone in toward the inner left thigh. Take an inhale and an exhale and you've got one more here. Inhale and exhale. Hands down to the floor. Spin the back heel up. Step forward. Inhale. Lengthen your spine. On the exhale melt down. Round yourself all the way up. Inhale the left arm up. This time the left foot is gonna slide back the ball of the foot behind your right foot. It's gonna cross over to the right. Hold on to your left wrist. Lengthen and as you exhale, side bend up and over to the right. One more. Inhale. All the way to center. Reach the arms up. Exhale. Bend your knees. Utkatasana. Stand into your right foot. Lift your left knee as you go. Take an inhale and as you exhale step way back. Stay in your high lunge. Palms to the heart center. Take an inhale and on the exhale lean forward in a diagonal. Pull your right hip back. Hover here for a couple of breaths.

Twist to the right. Maybe you hook the left elbow. Maybe the hand comes all the way down to the floor. Lift your left thigh up into the hip. If this is very unsteady you can always lower your left knee down. Twist and turn. Now twist from a place of steadiness and ease. So the steadiness comes on the inhale as you lengthen and the ease comes on the exhale as you soften your middle. Hands down to the floor. Step back downward facing. Now listen. You could stay in your tripod like we did last time for your side plank or you could bring your feet together. Pull forward. Roll the heels to the right and then reach the left arm up. Take an inhale. Reach the left arm forward. Keep rolling that inner right elbow forward so the shoulders blade stays on the back. And then hands down to the floor. You're in a plank pose. Pull your weight forward. Either knees down or keeping the legs lifted. Bend your elbows. Maybe you find an upward facing dog or a cobra. And press up and back. Downward facing. Inhale. Pull forward. Plank. Exhale. Lower your knees. Walk your knees forward. Extend your right leg. Ball of the foot lifts. Slide that leg out to the left. Walk your right fingers. Look over your left shoulder. Bring yourself back. Slipping that heel down. Right arm lifts. Hand behind the head. Hug the elbow to the knee. Take a couple of breaths. And then hand down. Slide the knee down. Spin the heel up. Step up and back. Down dog split. As you exhale, step the foot right between the hands. Spin your back heel down. Coming up, warrior two. Inhale. Extend your front leg. Turn the left toes into the right. Side bending down the right leg. Take an inhale. Turn your left chest down. Left hand reaches for your right ankle. Bend your left knee. That's your front knee. Lean back. Right arm lifts. Slip the right arm up by the ear. It feels like the torso of a side angle. Look to the right. From there, release your bottom hand. Your left hand. Turn forward. Spin the left fingers forward.

You're in your side angle. The left sit bone slides toward the right inner thigh. Take an inhale. As you exhale, turn down. Spin the back heel up. Step forward. Inhale. Lengthen. Exhale. Fold. Round yourself all the way up. Right ball of foot behind your left ball of foot. Right arm up. Hold on to your right wrist with your left hand. Bend your knees. Wrap the right hip forward and lean to the left. Inhale. Lift yourself up. Stand tall. And as you exhale, utkatasana. Inhale. Stand into your left foot. Pick up your right knee. As you exhale, step the right foot way back. You're in your high lunge. Palms to the heart center. Take an inhale. Pin the navel and lean forward in a diagonal away from your right heel. Pull your left hip back. One more. You're hovering. You're not dumping onto your left leg. Twist right elbow to the left inner thigh. Pin the navel away. Roll open. Whoop. You might lose your balance. That's totally fine. And then hands down to the floor. Step back. Downward facing. Feet together. Pull forward. Swivel the heels. You can also take that tricycle variation. Reach the right arm up. Side bend. Right arm reaches. Reaches forward. Take an inhale. And as you exhale, hand down. Plank pose.

Pull forward. Exhale halfway down. And then into your upward facing dog. And press back. Downward facing dog. From here, bring your knees onto the floor. You might want your blocks. And the way to place your blocks is at the balls of your feet at the highest height if you're going to use them. We're coming into camel pose, Ustrasana. If you've got delicate knees, slide a blanket underneath them. The hands are going to come to the sacrum or to the sides of the body. And the thumbs can kind of come to the sacrum, which is that flat bone at the middle of the back of the pelvis. From there, point your elbows back. Inhale. Roll your chest open. And then you decide, is there a space for me to lower my hands toward the blocks or even to lower my hands toward the heels? Press into whatever you're holding on to. Roll your chest open. Take one more. And bring yourself up. Lower onto your shins. Great. Roll your bum over to one side. We're coming into Paschimottanasana. Extend your legs forward. Flex your feet. Lengthen your spine. On the exhale, fold forward. Remember, you're hinging from the hips. Lengthen your spine. And fold. Once you've found the steadiness in the pose, soften the insides of you. Inhale. Lift up. Roll onto your back. Let your weight drop into the floor. Release your Ujjayi breath. Shavasana. Baba. Baba nam kiva lam. Baba nam kiva lam. Baba nam kiva lam. Baba nam kiva lam. Baba nam kiva lam. Baba nam kiva lam. Baba nam kiva lam. Baba nam kiva lam. Stay on your back. Move your fingers and your toes. Rest one hand on your heart, one hand on your belly. Take a deep inhale. Love and light to all beings everywhere. Thank you for joining me. I'll see you next time. Namaste yogis.