Psoas I Was Saying

Welcome everyone, welcome back to Yoga Anytime. Today we're going to work with the psoas, which is one of the major hip flexors in the body, and we're going to get into the psoas a little bit to soften it. Because it's the major hip flexor in the body, whenever you have a stress reflex or a fight-or-flight reflex, the psoas kicks in, so it's a really nice way to start working. And then we're going to move into our middle section and kind of soften and tone the middle section to get us ready for back bends. So it'll be quite an adventure. Grab a blanket and you will open the blanket in a shape like so, and then we're going to fold the blanket over twice in order to create a fold that's no wider than two fists. So if you were to look at my fold, my fold is about two fists wide. You don't want it to be much wider because if you get too too wide it's not going to do what it needs to do. And oh, before we do that, your hip points just feel around. You're going to feel for the hip points, which are those big elephant-like ears that come around the hips. That's what I like to call hip points. And the blanket is going to come in between those and then feel around. You can even close your eyes if you need to feel around for your pubic bone or your, yeah, your pubic bone, and then find your navel. So the blanket is going to come in between the two hip points and between the navel and the pubic bone. Before we do that though, you're going to roll it up. You want the roll to be about a Chipotle burrito size if you haven't been to Chipotle, good on you. But Chipotle burrito size and that's going to come right in between your two hip points above your pubic bone but under your navel. And then come to recline on it. Let your ankles explode out. Point your toes in a little bit like your pigeon toeing. And if you've eaten something recently it won't feel very good and it probably may not feel very good anyway. It's kind of intense. So start to let your body soften around it. You can rest your forehead on your hands or rest one cheek to one side. And at first resist the temptation to do anything and simply breathe into your back body. Get really full and plush back there. You can begin your ujjayi breath whenever you're ready. And then start to melt the right hip point toward the floor, kind of flossing through the psoas. And then melt the left hip point toward the floor, flossing in the opposite direction. Do that a few times. If there are any sticky points or points where you're like, ooh that's tender there, you can kind of stop and stay there for a moment. Keep breathing into the back. The goal here is to let your body kind of soften and melt over that little bolster that you've created with the blanket. And then find the center and now you're going to do it slightly differently.

You're going to kick the tops of the feet down like you're doing a very sort of pronounced cat in the very base of your spine. So you're letting the tailbone kind of curl down toward the floor. And then do the opposite. Stick your bum back and up like you're sticking your butt out and cow your spine, the bottom of the spine. And then like that a few times just massaging. This is really wonderful for the health of your guts, for your colon, for digestion. And this will also feed into your ability to rewire and kind of fire your transverse abdominis and the deep abdominals in the body. And the last little thing here, you can cactus your arms out to the sides and then push through the forearms and kick down into the feet and kind of roll your sternum up and then lower. As you roll, try to pooch your belly out. Maybe lift your arms this time and lower. We'll try that a couple more times. Inhale, pooch the belly out. On the exhale, really soften. Let the belly soften in. And one more. Inhale and exhale, lower. Hands come by your ribs, push back into a child's pose. Let your forehead rest on the blanket. It doesn't matter if you've lost the little roll. And then just take your blanket, set it off to the side. Or if you want to sit on it, go for it. Sit up nice and tall. Right away, close your eyes. Notice what that has done for you, the sitting up nice and tall. Can there be a kind of easy length and steadiness to your shape? And then really fill yourself from the inside out. Fill out that wonderful space and that width that you've cultivated in the front and in the back of the body. We'll chant together. The words are shri ram, jai ram, jai jai ram. Repeat them. Shri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram, Sita Ram, Sita Ram, Sita Ram. Sita Ram, Sita Ram, Shri Ram Devaam Devaam Shri Ram Devaam Devaam Shri Ram Devaam Devaam Shri Ram Devaam Shri Ram Devaam Shri Ram Devaam Shri Ram Devaam Shri Ram Devaam Shri Ram Devaam Shri Ram Devaam palms at the heart lift your sternum up a little bit take an inhale take the time you need to open your eyes and we will meet standing at the front of the mat hook the right thumb over the left thumb under your navel bend your knees on the inhale sweep the arms forward and up extend the legs find a little baby back bend and as you exhale fold forward interlace the fingers behind your tailbone reach the arms long inhale bend the knees pull your chest forward and as you exhale extend the legs and fold inhale bend the knees pull the chest forward exhale extend the legs and fold inhale bend the knees pull the chest forward roll your shoulders open and extend the legs and fold inhale bend your knees pull your chest forward lean into your right foot pluck your left foot and step the left foot way way back nice and slowly lower the back knee down arms down forward and up hook the right thumb over the left reach up on the inhale scissor squeeze the legs and pull the hips back a little bit as you exhale drop the hips forward and down inhale pull back a little bit on the exhale drop the hips forward and down inhale pull back a little bit as the hips slide forward and down lift your chest stay here inhale as you exhale hands down to the floor or onto your blocks extend both legs inhale bend your front knee pull your chest forward and on the exhale extend the front leg inhale bend the front knee pull the chest forward exhale extend the front leg inhale bend the front knee pull the chest forward plant your palms step back downward facing dog on the inhale come high up onto your tip toes bend your knees a little bit and lift your sit bones higher and then you're going to ripple forward the tail will chase the head into a plank pose and as you exhale bend the knees lift the sit bones up and back like a little choo-choo train or a piston rolling forward rippling forward crown of the head reaches bend the knees pull back and one more like that rounding forward pulling forward bend the knees pull back inhale your right leg high square those hips and on the exhale step the right foot between the hands now reach your arms forward and up interlace the fingers behind your head point the elbows forward on the inhale really reach the back heel back lift your chest and then as you exhale you're gonna bend the back knee about a third of the way and round your spine back so you're not folding forward you're it's as if somebody were hugging your midline and pulling you back and then inhale extend the back heel lift your chest up and on the exhale bend the back knee round inhale extend the back leg reach your heart up one last one exhale bend the back knee round inhale extend the back leg reach your arms up on the exhale lean forward step the left foot forward inhale lengthen exhale fold hook the right thumb over the left bend the knees kick up to stand kick the feet down lift your chest as you exhale arms down second side left thumb over the right bend the knees inhale reach the arms forward and up lift up exhale fold forward interlace the fingers behind your tailbone left index on top inhale bend your knees pull the chest forward skiers pose exhale extend and fold inhale bend the knees pull the chest forward exhale extend and fold inhale bend the knees pull the chest forward exhale extend and fold bend the knees pull the chest forward lean into your left foot pluck the right foot right footsteps way back back knee down arms down forward and up left thumb over the right lift your chest inhale pull the hips back a little and on the exhale slide the hips forward and down inhale pull back scissor squeeze the legs exhale lift the chest even brighter one more inhale squeeze the legs pull back on the exhale hips slide forward inhale lift your chest exhale hands down to the floor the blocks extend both legs inhale bend your front knee pull your chest forward exhale extend and fold inhale bend your front knee pull the chest forward exhale extend and fold bend your front knee pull the chest forward plant your palms step back downward facing high up onto your tiptoes rounding forward into your plank pose bend your knees smear the sit bones up and back inhale rounding forward articulating your spine bend the knees and smear back unamass inhale rounding rounding rounding forward and then the knees pull up and back inhale left leg high on the exhale step the foot right between the hands come on up interlace your fingers behind your head point your elbows forward reach through the back heel lift your chest on the exhale round your sideways back bend your right knee about a third of the way down inhale extend reach the elbows reach the chest exhale bend the back knee and round your sideways back this really helps get into the psoas and strengthen it inhale reach and one more exhale round strength is not the same as being tight inhale extend reach up lean forward and step forward inhale lengthen exhale fold round yourself up left thumb over the right bend your knees inhale reach up find your little back bend and on the exhale arms down by your sides second time around we'll make it a little bit quicker not by rushing but one breath at a time right thumb over the left bend the knees kick down into the feet inhale reach up exhale interlace your fingers behind you fold forward over your legs right index on top inhale bend the knees pull the chest forward and as you exhale extend and fold inhale bend the knees pull the chest forward pluck your left foot slide it way back back knee down arms down forward and up hook the right thumb on top inhale lift your chest and as you exhale hands down to the floor extend both legs inhale bend your front knee and step back downward facing this time inhale high up onto the balls of the feet round forward through a plank pose stay on the balls of the feet really strengthen the legs and lift into an up dog and reach up and back with the sit bones downward facing inhale right leg high exhale step the foot right between the hands come all the way up interlace the fingers behind your head inhale lift your chest and on the exhale bend your back knee and round inhale extend the arms up reach your chest up and as you exhale lean forward step forward inhale lengthen exhale flutter the lips around yourself up right thumb over the left bend the knees inhale reach up and as you exhale arms down to the sides left thumb over the right bend the knees inhale reach up roll up exhale fold forward over your legs left index on top inhale bend the knees pull the chest forward exhale extend them fold bend the knees pull the chest forward pluck your right foot step it way back back knee down arms down forward and up left thumb over the right inhale reach up on Janaya as you exhale hands down extend both legs inhale bend your front knee step back downward facing rolling through a plank pose so you're coming through plank and then letting your hips kind of soften down as you reach through the feet stay on the balls of the feet up dog and lift up and back downward facing inhale left leg high exhale step the foot between the hands come on up into your high lunge interlace the fingers the awkward way behind your head inhale open your chest exhale bend your back knee and round inhale reach up and as you exhale reach forward and step forward inhale lengthen and as you exhale left thumb over the right reach up pull the thumbs apart inhale and as you exhale arms down by your sides bend your knees you can keep the feet separated or bring the feet together for Utkatasana and then from there start Kapalabhati short sharp exhales do them slowly enough that you can really feel the sort of purge on the exhale and the softness on the inhale we're trying to soften the middle of the guts keep it going keep it going 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 inhale stand up exhale fold forward over your legs inhale step back you can take a chaturanga here if you'd like inhale upward facing dog or your cobra and exhale lift up and back downward facing dog inhale pull forward into plank pose come high up onto your tip toes and lower all the way down onto your belly now grab one of your blocks and just have it nearby and then you're going to roll yourself onto your back find your feet hips distance apart feet well planted on the ground knees point up toward the ceiling you can grab the outer edges of your mat and then from there press down into the feet and roll your bum up and then you can slide your shoulder blades in toward one another pull the mat apart to spread your chest breathe into the chest think of really filtering the breath up toward the manubrium which is that little divot right at the top of the sternum it's a really cool word you can say it to yourself manubrium it's that divot that so many poems have been written about one more breath and vertebra by vertebra lower down nice and easy separate your feet as wide as the mat let your knees drop in bring your palms together and let your thumbs rest at your third eye center right in between your eyebrows close your eyes second round if you're feeling ready you can come up into a full wheel if you're not quite there or if that's not part of your practice yet you can come up into a second bridge pose so whenever you're ready your hands will come up by your ears the fingers will point toward the shoulders point your elbows up steady your feet down hips distance apart take an inhale and as you exhale nice and gently press through the feet lift yourself up push down into the hands and nice easy coming down whenever you've had your few breaths there separate your feet hips distance or mats distance apart let the knees drop in thumbs to the third eye whenever you're ready you're going to bring your feet together grab your block at the lowest height and you're gonna slip that block right underneath your sacrum the sacrum is the flat bone so your bum might be slightly hanging off of the block and then again you can hold the outer edges of your mat start to bend your knees and reach your legs up either one at a time or both at the same time try to knit your shoulder blades a little closer to one another so that there's still that nice broadness in the chest and then bend your elbows out to the sides cactus your arms close your eyes and feel all of the fluids that were in the legs kind of filtering down toward your heart it's so good for us to invert the gravity of our bodies every once in a while just to give the heart a break stay there for a few more rounds of breath and if you'd like it here stay if you would like to take the block out and come into shavasana you'll do that Shri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram Shri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram Shri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram Shri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram Shri Ram Shri Ram Shri Ram Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram.

Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram. Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram. Deepen your breath. Wiggle the fingers and the toes. Whenever you're ready, bend the knees. Roll over onto one side.

And come up to sit. See how you feel. Hopefully there's a nice ease to the way that you can hold yourself up. Palms to the heart center. Take a deep inhale.

Aum. Love and light to all beings everywhere. No exceptions. Namaste yogis.