Get Twisted

Hi everybody, thanks for joining me today, thanks for being here. Get ready to get twisted in the most therapeutic way. We're going to start lying on our back, so get comfortable, extend the legs. Once you get lying down, point your toes and take the arms right over the head and feel that nice stretch, feeling the lower back lifting off the floor. Take a nice full inhale and then as you exhale slowly, draw the knees into the chest, lifting the head off the floor for a nice big, I'm sure, much deserved hug.

Extend your legs, take the arms over the head. Same thing, lift the ribs to the sky point, the toes feel the lower back bent, exhale, hug it in, wrap it around, feel the core contracting, relaxing the upper back and shoulders. We got four more of these, pulse with your breath, connect with the breath, engaging the core as you exhale and breathing into the full side body, front of the chest with the inhale. Last one, the next time you draw the knees into the chest, keep the knees drawed in, let the arms come into cactus field goal and choose a direction to circle the knees. This will release the lower back before we start our twist, a nice little glute massage.

The next time you draw the knees into the chest, pause and switch the direction that you're circling the knees. Inhale the knees away from you, exhale, draw the knees into the chest, two more pulses just like that. Finish with the last one and we're going to stack the knees right up over the hips, lifting the heels the height of the knees, staying connected with your breath. On your next exhale, let the knees drop to the right and turn the head to the left, hover the knees a couple of inches off the floor so you're using the side body to help you hold and activate. Inhale the knees back to center, exhale the knees to the left, turn the head to the right, hover the knees off the floor, feel the obliques, inhale back to center, option of adding a little core, fingertips behind the head, exhale lift up, inhale cactus field goal of the arms, exhale the knees to the right, turn the head to the left.

Inhale back to center, optional core, exhale lift up, inhale back to cactus field goal, exhale to the left. You got two more, inhale back to center, optional core, exhale over to your right. Finish off with that last round, inhale back to center, exhale engage the core, lift up, cactus field goal, lower to the left, inhale back to center, lower the feet to the floor, supported bridge pose, press your palms into the earth, lift your hips, this releases the hip flexors from those contractions and send the right leg to the sky, so shift the weight to the left leg, inhale the right leg to the sky and then send those hips away from the floor for two, for one, slowly don't lower down but keep the right leg up, cross the right leg on top of the left, shift your hips to the right a couple of inches and drop your knees to the left for an easy twist, drawing the rib cage up, extending the spine so you can softly rotate to your right, wherever that right arm falls out, give it one more big inhale and exhale, melt into that soft spinal twist, perfect. Come on back to center, back to our supported bridge pose, feet hip distance, palms press into the earth, lift the hips as you inhale, shift your weight to your right leg, inhale the left leg to the sky and then reach the toes to the ceiling, the sky, wherever you're watching, keep the lift, keep it activated and then keep it up as you lower the hips back down to the earth, bend the left leg, cross it on top of the right, shift your hips a couple of inches to the left to drop the knees to the right so you're nicely lined up with the pelvis and the sternum, big inhale, exhale, release some of that tension, release and give yourself a nice little therapeutic twist of the spine. Coming on back to center, hug the knees into the chest, cross the shins, we're gonna do a little, cross the ankles, we're gonna do a little rock forward and backward to massage the back, give yourself a little more momentum and rock your way all the way up, we'll meet in table, you can swing the legs around or plant the palms in front of you and float the feet back, just me and table, we'll get there together, palms underneath the shoulders, knees under the hips, replace your palms with your forearms, keep the elbows shoulder distance, round the spine with your exhale, cat tilt the spine, pull the navel up and back and then inhale, look forward for your cow tilt, exhale round, press strongly down into your forearms, inhale, lengthen the spine, drishti or focal point forward, breathe into the ribs, the lats, the intercostals, two more pulses just like that, bringing a little bit of movement and mobility to the spine, last one, keep the neutral spine, step the left leg back, step the right leg back so you're in forearm plank, try to lower the hips so that they're the height of the shoulders or a little bit lower, engage your core, fire up the quads, slide the right hand over towards your left forearm, walk your big toes together and pivot your heels to the right for easy supported forearm side plank, right hand across the mat, you can take that left palm to the sky or bring it up and over the ear so you breathe into that left side body and feel the side stretch.

Let's meet back and forearm plank, try not to lower down, we got a couple more breaths, walk the big toes together again, slide your left hand across the mat, pivot your heels to the left, stack the right foot on top, push down into the forearm, right palm to the sky or option of that side stretch, right arm up and over the ear, keep squeezing to the midline, lower back to your forearm plank, now you can lower all the way down, untuck the toes, maybe slide those elbows forward if you have a little lower back stuff, glide your heart forward, soften the shoulder blades, down the back for easy sphinx pose. One more big inhale, feeling the ribs, the chest and then as you exhale, replace the elbows with the palms, we'll press up through child's pose, tucking the toes under, lifting the hips to the sky for our first down dog. Push actively forward with your hands, pedal the legs out one at a time. Great everybody, shift your weight to your left leg, bend the right leg and slide the right leg in front of and across the left for a little IT band stretch for the outer right leg. If you need to feel more, slide the right foot forward, 8, 9, 10 o'clock and then back up your hips so you feel the outer hip, outer glute IT band on that side, draw the right knee back into the chest and send it to the sky for your three legged dog, push actively forward with both hands, lift the left heel and lower it and feel that calf muscle.

Try that one more time, lift and lower, glide forward to plank pose, bend the elbows lower all the way down. If you have lower back stuff today, feel free to go to sphinx pose, otherwise palms next to the ribs, low cobra pose, maybe give yourself a little shoulder roll one at a time or at the same time, bringing a little attention to that space between the shoulder blades. Great everybody, we're passing back through child's pose, lower down, press into the knees, tuck the toes under, feel that shoulder chest stretch and then lift the hips off of the floor, lift the knees off the floor, pedal the legs out for your down dog. The next time you bend the left leg, keep it bent, slide it in front of and across the right for the IT band stretching dog, stay here or slide that foot forward, 3 o'clock, maybe wherever your spot is, back up the heel on the right leg, feel the IT band stretch. Take a nice big inhale, exhale, draw the knee into the chest, inhale that left leg to the sky, lift the right heel away from the floor to feel the calf muscle, keep the left leg high and melt the right heel back to the earth, move forward to your plank pose, lower all the way down.

We're going to do a little pec stretch here, so tee your left arm out to the side like a wing, straight out from your shoulder, roll to your left, push the floor away with the right hand. The idea is to get the right seat closer to the floor to open the front of your chest, feel wherever you are into the space, remember you can bend that right knee if you want a little bit more of a chest opener. Excellent, come on back to your core, your stomach and then we'll take that right arm out to the side like a wing, straight out from the shoulder and we'll roll over to the right. Same opportunity keeping the leg straight or bending the leg to get the hips a little closer to the floor. Give yourself one more big inhale, open up through the front of the chest and then exhale back to your recline position, untuck the toes, low, medium or high cobra.

Hopefully you're feeling a little bit more space in the front of the chest, press back to your down dog. Alright here's where we start our strength work today, shift your weight to your left leg, inhale the right leg to the sky, exhale draw the right knee into the chest and then take the right knee across, try to tap your left tricep, inhale it back up. We've got three more of these, exhale it in, pull the knee and heel up, take it across, tap, send it back to the sky. Last one, draw it in, up, across and then slide the right foot to the floor, fall in triangle, pivot your left heel down, inhale the left palm to the sky, push actively forward with your right hand, give yourself a moment here and then send the right leg back to the sky, take a big inhale for three legged dog, exhale, step the right foot right between the hands, lower the left knee to the floor, bring the, this is a good spot for your blocks if you want to use them, bring your hands onto your blocks if you need them and we'll go, we're going to pulse between our low lunge and our half split. Feel that pulsing sensation as you move between both, feel free to walk your hands back towards your knee to help facilitate straightening that right leg or move the block back as well.

Feeling that hamstring stretch and the front of the left hip flexor releasing, pause the next time you bend your right leg, bring the right hand on top of the right thigh, left hand to the sacrum, feeling the stretch in the front of your left hip and then inhale the palms up, take the hands behind the head for a little side stretch left and right. Some nice side body stretching will help us go deeper into our twists today. If you want to feel more, lean the head back, great, free the arms, send them to the sky, bring the hands on either side of the right foot, straighten the right leg slowly remember you can use your blocks here, keep the left hand where it is, draw your right hand slowly up to the sky for the hamstring variation of the twist, squeeze the right inner thigh to the midline, give yourself one more round of breath, you're going to feel this one, this one feels good, bring the right hand to your sacrum, bend the right leg, inhale it all the way up, hook the left elbow outside of the right knee. If that's not working, bring your forearm on top of the side, if it is working, bring your palms into prayer and then lengthen the spine with the inhale, press down and rotate with the exhale. Lengthen with the inhale, exhale, ring it out, beautiful, bring your hands frame the right foot to the earth, inhale the right leg to the sky, keep the right heel lifting, push strongly forward with your right hand and walk your left hand a little closer to your left foot, say you're feeling that hamstring stretch with a little bit more depth, lengthen forward to plank pose, bend the elbows, lower all the way down, untuck the toes, cobra up dog, press back through child's pose, tuck the toes under, lift your hips to the sky.

Going back to that same strength variation on the second side, shift your weight to your right leg, inhale the left leg to the sky, draw the left knee into the chest, heel up, knee up, exhale, twist left knee to your right tricep, inhale the left leg back to the sky. You got two more, exhale, pull it up and in, cross it, engage the core, push strongly down with the hands, last one, exhale, pull it in, cross it, pivot your right heel to the earth, slide the left foot across the mat, fall in triangle. Send the left leg back to the sky, press into the earth, pivot the right foot, one big inhale and then exhale, step the left foot between the hands. Lower the right knee to the floor, if you're using your blocks, keep them on either side of that left foot, low lunge, feel the stretch in the front of your hip and then walk the hands or blocks back for your half split. We're pulsing between these two, another three times, all of these pulsing movements help us to feel that detoxifying quality in the body as we squeeze and release and squeeze and release, we're helping to facilitate that lymph system moving out some of the toxins, creating a little bit of heat. The next time you bend the left leg, left hand on top of the left thigh, right hand to the sacrum, lengthen the tailbone down, lift the sternum and chest up. When we interlace this time, the non-habitual index on top, bring the hands behind the head, lean the head back softly so you feel the shoulder and side stretch as you pulse left and right, keep squeezing to the midline with the inner thighs.

Breathe those palms to the sky as you inhale and then exhale, lower the palms to the floor. Slowly straighten that left leg, pull the toes back, remember you can use your blocks, keeping the block underneath that right hand or right hand on the floor, soft twist to your left, pull the toes back, lift the left ribcage and then exhale, melt into the twist. Nice everybody, lower the left leg, sorry, lower the left hand, bend the left leg, send your left leg to the sky, three-legged dog, push actively forward with both hands, slowly walk your right hand back to your right foot, maybe halfway, three-quarters of the way, whatever you're feeling, just so you feel that deeper hamstring stretch, lengthen forward to plank pose, lower all the way down, cycle through the vinyasa, cobra or up dog, I will meet in the front of the mat from down dog, so at the finale of your next exhale, walk or float your feet forward to the front of the mat. Lengthen the spine with the inhalation, enjoy a soft fold, bend the knees, engage the quads, cycle all the way up to a stand, inhale the palms to the sky, exhale them right into prayer, close the eyes, check in with your breath, enjoy that connection with your breath, let something go with that next exhale, it's all about moving the tension out, and then as you open the eyes, bend the knees, we're going to set up right up for chair pose, easier with your feet hip distance, press your palms on top of the thighs, lift the sternum and chest, draw the navel to the spine and then send the palms up, this is where we're going to play on our strength pose, so the transition is stepping back to high lunge with the right leg and then bringing your palms into prayer, step forward with the right leg and send your palms to the sky, try to keep the chair with the knees bent, palms into prayer, step back to your high lunge, feet hip distance, step forward, chair pose, you're going to feel this in the quads and glutes, we've got two more, if any of you would like to try that right knee to the left calf, wobbly chair pose, tap, and then step it back, remember you can do the other version, tap, and then step back and stay in your high lunge pose, straighten the left leg, drape the left hand around the waist, inhale the right palm to the sky, place the hand behind your head, lean the head back while the chin is dropping down and then melt into that front left leg, you can slide the left hand down the right IT bend, this opens the shoulders up for our future hold later, bring your palms to the floor, step your right foot forward about a foot, this is where if you have blocks it's a great opportunity to use them for our peak balance posture today, lift the right leg off the floor, hands on the blocks, lengthen the spine, hug to the midline with the right inner thigh, keep the right hand where it is, take a micro bend in your left leg and inhale the left palm to the sky for a revolved triangle, if you want to feel more you can pull the left hip back as you squeeze to the midline, keep lengthening the spine for deeper rotation, when you step the right leg back, shorten your stance for a pyramid pose, feel free to use those blocks again on either side of the left foot, little micro bend in the left leg, we're going back into the twist, bring the hand to the top of the hip, lengthen the spine and softly rotate for a revolved triangle, stay here or stack the left arm on top of the right, squeeze to the midline with your left inner thigh if you're going to straighten the leg, draws the hip in and if you can't get enough move your hand to the block outside of your foot, take a nice big inhale, lengthen the spine and ring it out with the exhale, side one is done, we'll meet at the front of the mat, slide your blocks forward, step your right foot forward to meet the left, bend both knees, come right into chair pose, palms on top of the quads, press down, engage the core, inhale the palms to the sky, strength variation, right leg is the balancing leg, step the left leg back to high lunge, bring your palms into prayer, step the left leg forward to chair pose, keep the knees bent and the core engaged, pulse back, palms into prayer, pulse forward, palms to the sky, chair, pulse back, palms into prayer, optional tap of the left knee to the right calf for wobbly chair pose, remember you can keep those left toes on the floor or hover for more intensity, palms into prayer for high lunge, inhale back to the sky, regular chair wobbly chair and then step it back, hopefully you felt the strength in the quad muscle there, take your right hand around the waist, behind the back, maybe IT band, inhale the left palm to the sky, straighten your right leg, give it a break, left hand the back of the head, lean the head back with the chin slightly down, opening the shoulder, now re-bend into that right leg, feel the shoulder opener and the release here in your high lunge, lower the palms to the floor, around the right foot, step the left foot forward at least a foot, set those palms up on your block and lengthen the spine to lift that left leg off the floor, the height of your hip, keep lengthening the spine as you squeeze to the midline, left hand stays, right hand to the sacrum, pull the hip back or go right into half moon twist and send it to the sky, give yourself two more breaths here, each inhale is a lengthening, each exhale is a rotating posture, lengthen to rotate, lower the right hand, step the left foot back, shorten the stance for pyramid pose, walk your hands back either side of the right foot, keep a little micro bend in that right leg, hug the right inner thigh to the midline, lengthen the spine, bring the right hand up to your hip and once again rotate and twist to your right, option of sending the palm to the sky, keep the left hand where it is or take it over to the block that your right hand was on for revolved triangle pose, wonderful everyone, bend the right leg, we're coming down a different way, tap your left knee to your right calf, slide the foot across and we'll lower all the way down setting up for a nice little Gomakasana posture, when you move into Gomakasana you're trying to stack the knees on top of each other, sitting on a block makes this posture a little easier, finding that position, stacking the knees on top of each other, option one, stay right here, option two, slide your right hand around the waist or up the spine if you got it, a hand towel on the left hand will help you reach for your fingertips, drawing the left elbow back, squeezing to the midline, stay right here or softly fold, wonderful, let's try the other side, a fun way to get out of this, keep that right leg bent, walk your hands towards the right foot, keep both knees bent and just swing all the way around, you can switch the legs if that's not the right way of doing it for your body, left knee on top of the right, hug your heels towards the midline, pause right here or slide that left hand around the waist and up the spine, hand towel on the right hand if you're using it, draw the left knee on top of the right, squeeze to the midline with your elbows, stay here or take that little fold forward, puts a little bit more pressure, a little bit more release on the outer hip glute IT bend, slowly release your arms as you rise up, that feels good to let go of some of that tension and then release your legs, feet hip distance, stay on your seat, to release the arms we're going to externally rotate, turn the palms out, fingertips facing back and then if you're opening a little bit deeper, slide your seat a little closer to your heels, a little windshield wiper to release the glutes, let go of a little tension here, give yourself some time, a little massage before we set up for our hold in bridge pose, so using the blocks in bridge is going to feel so nice to help you get a little deeper into the posture, slide the hips back, grab onto your block and then place your block under your sacrum after you lie down, press into all four corners of the feet, place the block low, medium or high under your sacrum, you'll feel where you should be on this one, the level of this one and then let the arms just soften the shoulder blades, squeeze towards the midline, palms facing up, you don't have to put too much pressure on the legs because the block is there to support you, enjoy opening up the front of the hip flexors, those areas that you were just contracting in your strengthening variations of the flow today, settling in, enjoying the open space around the heart, if anybody would like to interlace around the block you can squeeze those elbows a little bit closer to the midline, pressing the wrist down to the floor, we're going to be here for five more breaths, expand the inhales and then soften and release with each exhale, enjoy that feeling of the energy expanding as you inhale and hugging back to the center of you as you exhale, give yourself two more rounds of breath here, one more, great, lift off of your block, move it towards the side, lower the hips to the floor, place the right ankle on top of the left, opening the hips with soft windshield wipers, cactus, feel go to the arms, just let your knees rock left and right, you'll feel the lower back, mid back releasing as you massage that connection between the torso and the limbs, great, come on back to center and switch which leg is on top, left ankle on top of the right and then give yourself that same massaging action left and right with the windshield wipers and hip opening, figure four, you can turn the head the opposite way, the knees are moving, beautiful and then as you come back to center, lower the left foot, walk your big toes together for Baddha Konasana, if you're tighter in this pose you can use a block under each knee, low, medium or high, let the arms soften away from the legs a little bit so take the arms a little wider or bring them into cactus, feel go to the eye surrender pose, feel free to stay right here for part of your Shavasana or all of your Shavasana or you can straighten the legs one at a time, once you feel like you've got a nice counterbalance in the hips, relax the muscles of the face, relax the jaw, feel the body melting into the earth, let go of all doing in the mind, even focusing on the breath, let the breath just rise and fall on its own, let any thought patterns that are distracting you dissolve into peace, feel free to stay right here and enjoy Shavasana for a little bit longer or if you're ready to move with me to the seat, take the arms over the head, point the toes, take that nice big stretch that you took in the beginning of class and then hug the knees into the chest, a little rock left and right, rock over to your right side and come on up to your comfortable seated pose, I hope your spine is feeling a little longer, a little bit more mobile after all those twists, thanks for joining me today and thanks for going for some of those strength challenges today too.