Core Balance

Welcome, I'm Patti Lewis, and today's practice is called core balance. We'll do a little bit of core, a little bit of balancing, and you will need two blocks. So to start, come onto your back and keep the knees bent, keep your feet flat, have your feet hips distanced, bring your hands to your belly, and take a moment to settle. Back of your head into the floor, your upper back, the back of your hips, and take a big breath in through your nose, filling up underneath your hands. Open wide and exhale out.

Take another inhale in, filling up the belly, notice your chest lift. Open wide and exhale out. Let the lips touch and inhale in through the nose. And as you exhale, notice the front of your body sinking into the back of your body. And then straighten the legs.

Keep the legs hips distanced, release your arms down by your side. Maybe turn the palms up, flex your feet as if your feet were on the floor. Press the tops of the thighs down. And as you take your next exhale, send your tailbone towards your heels. As you inhale, that sense of filling up the belly, notice your chest lift towards your chin.

As you exhale, maybe find some softness in your face. Taking another breath in here. And then exhale, bring your right knee into your chest. You could hold on behind the knee, you could hold on on the top of the knee. Notice if the left knee starts, the left leg starts to bend.

You want to keep the left thigh pressing down, send your tailbone towards your left heel. Exhale, straighten the leg on the floor, release the arms down. And exhale, bring the other knee in. Hands on top or behind. As you exhale, send your tailbone towards the straight leg.

Keep pressing that thigh down. Straighten the leg on the floor, take a breath in. And then exhale, bring both knees into your chest. Hands on top of the knees, you might rock a little bit side to side. And then release the arms down by your side.

As you inhale, straighten both legs up to the ceiling. Maybe they go straight, maybe they stay a little bit bent. Exhale, bend the knees down. Inhale the legs up. And as you exhale and bend your knees, notice the front of your body sink into the back of your body.

Drop the feet to the floor, pause here. And then we'll straighten the right leg up to the ceiling. Reach the heel up and externally rotate. So rotate the knee and the toes out to the side. Cross the right ankle on top of your left knee.

And then think of squeezing your right thigh away from you. So externally rotating the leg and then thread the needle. Take your right arm, thread it through, bring the opposite knee in towards your chest, flex both feet. As that thigh moves in, can you squeeze the right thigh away from you? And then drop the left foot to the floor, uncross the right.

And switching sides. So the left knee comes in, straighten the leg up to the sky. And as you exhale, start to rotate the left leg open so the knee and the toes turn out and cross the left leg on top of the right. Think of squeezing the left thigh away from you. And then thread your arm through the triangle, bring your right knee in.

As the right thigh moves in, squeeze the left away from you. Let the back of your head still sink into the floor and the upper back. And then drop the right foot, uncross, pause here, take a breath in and exhale both knees into your chest. So as you take your next exhale, think of lifting your shoulder blades off the floor, bring your head towards your knees, inhale back down, exhaling up, inhaling back down. Keep hold of your left leg, straighten the right leg, let it hover off the floor.

And then exhale, switch legs. Hovering off the floor. Exhale, switch legs. Stay down or lift your head towards your knee, release back down. Exhale, switch legs.

Stay here or exhale your head up, inhale back down, bring your left knee in. And then we'll rock forwards and backwards and come all the way up and come right into a little Ardha Navasana. So have your knees bent, your shins parallel to the floor. You could have your hands underneath your knees, lift your chest, that sense of the chest lifting towards the chin, broaden the collarbones, soften in the face, and then drop your feet to the floor, pause, and one more time, Ardha Navasana. So shins parallel to the floor, lift the chest, lift the chest, soften in the face.

You might even reach your arms forward, you're already balancing. And then drop your feet to the floor and come onto your hands and knees. So set up for tabletop with your hands shoulder distanced and then your shoulders over your wrists, your knees hips distanced and your knees underneath your hips. And as you inhale, we'll pull the chest through, the arms come into the arch. And then as you exhale, press your hands, press the tops of the feet.

Let your head drop, let the tailbone drop and round. Inhaling into the arch, spread the collarbones, exhale, lift the front of your body towards your back body and round. One more inhale into the arch, exhale, lift the navel, lift below the navel and round. And then inhale, come into center, just walk your hands a little forward so the wrists are in front of your shoulders, hands stay shoulder distance, tuck the toes under, press your hands, lift your hips, our first downward facing dog of the day. You might pedal your feet or walk your feet out, coming up on the balls of your feet and releasing the opposite heel.

And then slowing down the movement and finding that sort of external stillness so the body is not moving and the breath is moving in, moving out evenly. And then inhale, come forward into plank pose. So shoulders are over the wrist, the gaze is forward, legs straight or knees down, lift the front of your body towards your back body. Exhale back into downward facing dog. Now lift your heels and come down onto your hands and knees.

So we'll take the block and we'll bring it in between the thighs, bring it a little bit closer to your pelvis and come back into tabletop. So hands shoulder distance, shoulders over the wrists, knees just as far apart as they need to be to keep the block in between your legs. And then inhale to arch, broaden the collarbones, shoulder blades towards your spine. Inhale pressing your hands, lifting the navel lower belly rounding. Inhaling into the arch.

Exhale shoulder blades slide away from your spine, draw the front of the body towards your back. Inhaling into the arch. One more exhale to round tailbone towards backs of your knees. Exhale come into center, walk your wrists a little in front of your shoulders, tuck the toes, come into downward dog with your block. So instead of pedaling, take a little bend, press more with your hands to shift the hips away from your shoulders.

And then looking back at your feet, your feet are parallel. You can think of the center of your heel behind your second toe and hug into the block. So get the outer thighs, outer hips to work, hugging into the block, shift the block a little bit behind you. Take a breath in here. And then as you exhale, you'll bend your knees with the block.

It's a little awkward. Walk your feet towards your hands and take a little bend in the knees, but keep the block fold over your legs. Allow your head to hang here and notice how you're on your feet. Notice if the weight is back and your heels are really far forward in your toes. Can you find in the center of your feet?

Spread the toes, press your feet down, still have the block, hug into the block and press down through the feet. Inhale, lift your chest, slide your hands to your outer hips, lift the upper arms towards each other behind your back. Draw the front of the body into your back body. Press down, inhale all the way up to tadasana. So we'll hold the block for a moment, spread the toes, root down four corners of your feet, the base of your big toe, your little toe, inner and outer heel.

You want to root down, lift the kneecaps, lift the thighs, and then we have the block, so firm into the block. And think of lifting the block a little towards your pelvis. You want to send your tailbone towards the block. As you take a breath in, let the top of your chest lift, release your arms down. As here, and then bend your knees, take the block out, put the block to the side.

You can keep your feet hips distanced, find tadasana without the block as if the block was there, so still firming in. And as you inhale, reach your arms out and up. You may touch your palms, lift your chest and look up. As you exhale, hinge at your hips, fold all the way over your legs. Hands on the sides of the shins or fingertips on the floor.

Inhale lifts your chest. Exhale, bend your knees, flatten the palms, step the left leg back and then the right into plank pose. Pause here. Again, that sense of the block, drawing the outer thighs, outer hips in, draw the front of your body towards your back body. And then let your shoulders shift a little forward, exhale, land softly on your belly.

Tops of your feet to the floor. Use the back muscles as you inhale, lift your chest, lobhujangasana, exhale back down. Take one more inhale, lift into lobhujangasana, lift the fronts of the shoulders, draw the upper arms towards each other. And then from here, press to hands and knees, tuck the toes, shift into downward facing dog. Press the hands as if you could move the floor away from you, but your hips shift away from your shoulders.

Inhale, lift the heels high, you're on the balls of your feet. Exhale, let your knees bend and walk your feet towards your hands. You might bring your big toes to touch this round. You might keep your feet hips distance, lift your chest as you inhale. Fold into your legs on the exhale and inhale, come all the way up, reach the arms overhead.

Maybe the palms touch and you look up. Exhale the arms down. One more round, inhaling the arms overhead. Exhale, fold you over your legs, you're flowing on your breath. As you inhale, let your chest lift up.

As you exhale, bend the knees, step the right leg back and then the left into plank. Shift the shoulders, exhale, takes you to your belly. Now lifts you to low cobra, pause, lift the shoulder heads. You could stay in low cobra, you could lift into upward dog, lift your chest, lift your thighs, exhale into downward facing dog, gazing back between your toes. And think of finding Tadasana here, even if your heels aren't on the floor, can you spread your toes, press down base of the big toe, little toe, either side of your heel.

And your imaginary block from the outer hips, outer thighs in, and then let your knees bend, walk your feet towards your hands. Lift your chest as you inhale, fold into your legs on the exhale. Come all the way up as you inhale, reach your arms overhead. Exhale the arms down. Inhale the arms, lift up, exhale, bend your knees, come into Utkatasana, pause.

Lift the front of the pelvis, and then fold on over your legs. Inhale your chest lifts up, exhale, bend your knees. You're going to step your left leg back, lower the back heel to the floor, line your front heel up with your back arch, and inhale up into warrior two. So the shoulders are over your hips. You want to bend your front knee, find Tadasana in the front foot, but press a little more in the front heel, and firm the right buttock bone under as you press the back thigh straight.

Take a breath here, inhale, straighten, exhale, bend, inhale, straighten, exhale, bend in warrior two, and then release your hands down to the floor, step back into downward dog. Inhale your right leg up off the floor, come to three-legged dog, and notice if the right hip lifts, and you might deliberately lift it, you might even bend your right knee, and then come back to the hips being even, and the right leg straight. Exhale your knee towards your nose, step your right foot between your hands, look forward, step your back foot up to meet your front, lift your chest as you inhale. Hold into the legs on the exhale, and then chair pose, Utkatasana, bend the knees, raise your arms up, press to straighten the legs, release the arms down, find Tadasana, find the feet, inhale the arms overhead, exhale, bend your knees, Utkatasana, a little more weight in the heels, and then fold over your legs, Uttanasana, inhale, lift your chest after Utkatasana, exhale, bend your knees, you'll step your right leg back, lower the back heel, and right here, start to draw the left buttock bone under, and come up into warrior two. So shoulders lift over your hips, front knee is bent over your ankle, that sense of firming the left buttock bone under as you press the back thigh straight, gazing out at the front left fingers, and then inhale, straighten the front left leg, exhale, bend, and inhale, straighten, exhale, bend, inhale, straighten, exhale, bend, just pause for a moment, and then release your hands, either side of the front foot, step back into downward facing dock, inhale the left leg up, and again that sense of maybe deliberately lifting the left hip, bend the left knee, and then returning to neutral hips, so the hips are even, and the left leg is straight, and then exhale, bring the knee towards your nose, step the left foot between your hands, look forward, step your back foot up to meet the front, inhale the chest lifts, exhale, fold into your legs, inhale, bend your knees, reach your arms up, utkatasana, and press all the way to stand, tadasana.

So we'll come into the middle of our mats, and I recommend you have your two blocks, you can just leave them to the side for a moment, and then come into tadasana. So that sense that you found with the block affirming your outer hips, outer thighs in, and we want to keep our hips pointed forward, bring your hands to your hips, and then on an inhale come up on the ball of your right foot, and rotate your right leg open any amount it can. You want to keep your hips pointed forward, send your tailbone towards your left heel. You could bring your right foot to your left shin, you could bring your right foot all the way to the top of the left thigh, and then pressing in. Keep tadasana on the left foot, keep drawing the right buttock bone under as you press the left thigh straight, as you inhale let the top of your chest lift, you might reach your arms out and overhead, and then exhale out of Vrksasana tree pose, bring your hands to your hips, bring the right leg forward, and come out.

You might need to wiggle out a little bit, and then coming into tadasana again. So the feet can be together, you could always have your feet hips distance, but you want to start standing equally evenly on both feet, both legs, and then hands are on the hips so your hips stay pointed forward, come up on the ball of your left foot, and then keeping the hips pointed forward, rotate the left leg open, and then you might bring your left foot to your right shin, you might bring your left foot all the way to the top of your right thigh, and just remember the sides can be different, and it can be different each day. Head your toes, find tadasana in the right foot, and that sense of hugging in, outer hip hugs in of the right, lift your chest, you could reach your arms out, inhale, reach the arms all the way up, send your tailbone towards your standing heel, and then release the arms out, release your leg, and again a little wiggle out. All right, so the blocks are there, we'll use them in a moment, reach your arms out to the side, inhale here, and then as you exhale, cross the right arm under the left, bend the elbows, backs of the hands together are the palms, lift your chest, shift the forearms a little forward, and then inhale, reach the arms out, and then exhale, left arm is bottom, right on top, bend, backs of the hands are palms together, lift the chest, shift the forearms forward, and then inhale, reach the arms out, and again, cross left, right under left, backs of the hands together, inhale here, and this time exhale, add utkatasana, shift the weight into the heels, and then press down, inhale, up, exhale, left under the right, backs of the palms together, inhale, lift the chest, exhale into utkatasana, pause, press down, inhale, up, exhale the arms down, make sure your blocks are close to you, we'll use the blocks, reach your arms out, and then exhale, right arm bottom, left arm on top, come here, inhale, lift your chest, exhale, come into utkatasana, lift your right heel, we're taking garudasana, cross your right on top of the left, and bring the ball of your right foot to the floor, square your hips, so the hips stay pointed directly forward, lift your chest, press a little more in the left heel, and then inhale the arms out, extend your leg, release down, inhale the arms out, other side, left arm is bottom, right arm on top, inhale, lift your chest, exhale, bend the knees, come into utkatasana, lift the left heel, cross the left on top of the right, so here's where the core work comes in, you want to keep drawing the front of your body into the back of your body, drawing the navel towards your spine, keep the hips squared so the left hip shifts back, press down, inhale the arms, extend your leg, release the arms down, come back into tadasana, and then take your blocks, just put your blocks to the side, come to the top of your mat, and maybe have the feet hips distanced, find your tadasana for a moment, stand equally on both legs, and then as you take a breath in, reach the arms overhead, maybe shoulder distance, maybe even wider than shoulder distance, take a little bend in your knees, exhale, fold over and hang, allow your head to hang, and then bend your knees, get your hands to the floor and you choose, step one leg back and lower that knee down, step the other leg back, lower that knee down, and then come back onto your seat, and have a block, just one block nearby, and roll down onto your back, have your heels close to your hips, release the arms down by your side, spread the toes, press your feet down, inhale, lift your hips, come into setu bandhas, sarvangasana, bridge pose, you might walk your shoulders underneath you a little, keeping that awareness of your feet that you worked so hard to notice, base of the big toe, little toe, inner and outer heel, exhale, lower down, take another, inhale, deep press, lift your hips, bridge pose, and then take your block, keep the block flat so the lowest level it goes, slide the block under your sacrum, which is the flat and bony part of your spine, it's above your tailbone, below your lower back, release the arms down here, and then slide your right leg straight, flex the foot, press the top of the thigh down, you might stay right here, you might choose to bring your left knee in, bring your hands on top of the knee so the knee comes towards your chest, you'll feel some more opening in the front of the right thigh, allow the left foot to come to the floor, and bend the right, put the foot on the floor, pause here, and then slide the left leg straight, so you want to let the left thigh press straight down, you might stay here, you might bring your right knee into your chest, you could bring your hands on top of the knee or behind the knee, hugging the knee in as you press the opposite thigh straight down, and then put the right foot on the floor, the knee bent, bend your left foot on the floor, pause, that sense of the back of your head, your upper back, sinking into the floor, press down, lift your hips, take the block out, you can put the block to the side, on your next exhale, bring the knees towards your chest, bring the knees a little more towards your armpits, flex your feet and we'll take a happy baby, so you could hold on to the outer edges of your feet, if that's not available to you, you could hold on behind your shins or behind your knees, allow the thighs to release on the sides of your torso, allow your face to soften, your throat to soften, and then let the feet come to the floor, slide your legs straight, let the legs go a little wider than your hips, releasing in your legs so the legs probably roll open, release your arms down by your side, let the eyes close, is it possible to release the effort and move towards the ease as you rest in Shavasana? Okay.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You may begin by noticing your breath, and eventually start moving your fingers, moving your toes, your ankles, can roll the wrists, and then bend the knees, bring your feet flat to the floor, and roll to your side, use your top hand and press yourself up, you could come to a seated cross leg position or you could join me in sitting on your shins, you might have your hands on your thighs, you might bring your palms together, Anjali Mudra, the end of your practice, inhale, lifting your chest, and exhale, bring your chin to your chest, maybe thanking yourself for your effort, for your practice, for your balance, and I thank you for joining me. Have a balanced day. Thanks.