Crow Flow

Hi, welcome, I'm Patti Lewis, and today we're going to flow towards Crow, which is an arm balance. We might get there, we might stop somewhere along the journey. For today's practice, have two blocks, have a blanket nearby, and let's get started. We'll start in Balasana, Child's Pose, and have the knees just a little bit wider than your hips. Bring the tops of the feet to the floor, your big toes touch, and start to shift your hips back towards your heels.

Maybe they make it, maybe not. Bend the arms, elbows out to the side, stack your hands, bring your forehead to your hands, pause here. You might close your eyes, kind of releasing, and as you're releasing here, notice the quality of your mind. It might be all over the place, jumping around from thought to thought. It might be very steady, with that sense of noticing without any judgment.

And then as you take your next exhale, allow your tailbone to release a little more towards your heels. Switch the stack of your hands just for a moment, release the head towards the hands. And then as you exhale, draw the navel lower belly in, and inhale, reach your arms forward towards the top of your mat. As you take your next breath in, come up to your hands and knees, and just make sure your hands are wider than your shoulders, your wrists in front of your shoulders. Curl your toes under, press the hands, lift your hips, and step your feet wider than your hips.

Come into a wide downward dog. You might shift your weight side to side. You might pedal your feet. And then whatever movement you're doing, slow it down, pause. Take your next inhale in through your nose, fill up the belly, open wide and exhale.

And then settle the breath. Let the lips touch and inhale and exhale through the nose. And as you inhale, lift your heels, exhale lower down to your hands and knees. Bring your hands shoulder distance, come into tabletop. Your shoulders are over your wrists, your knees are under your hips.

And on your breath as you inhale, move the chest forward into an arch. And as you exhale, let your head drop, let the tailbone drop, and round. Inhaling, moving the chest forward into an arch. Exhale, lifting the navel below the navel towards your spine and round. One more inhale, bring the chest forward, spread wide across the collarbones.

Exhale, press the hands into the floor and round, inhale, come into center. You can walk your wrists a little in front of your shoulders, curl the toes, press your hips into downward facing dog. So for today's practice, going towards crow, there will be a lot asked of your hands and wrists. And as we're here in downward dog, maybe press a little more index finger, thumb side, firm your upper outer arms in your triceps and allow the head to release. Try to lift your forearms away from the floor.

So the part of your arm below your elbow above your wrist. And then inhale, come forward into plank. Remember index finger, thumb a little more weight, lift the navel, lift the lower belly, press the thighs up towards the ceiling, exhale back into downward dog, inhale, come forward again into plank, bring your gaze forward. And then this time as you exhale, lower the knees down, pause. So firming your upper outer arms in your triceps, shift the shoulders forward, exhale, go all the way down to your belly.

Bring the tops of your feet to the floor, lengthen your chest forward and up into low bhujangasana, low cobra, exhale back down, draw the upper arms towards each other as you lengthen out and lift your chest, low bhujangasana, exhale back down, inhale, lengthen to lift and then bring your forearms to the floor. So again, elbows bend, press your elbows, your forearms, your wrists, your hands down and moving your chest forward by reaching your legs back. Reach long through the legs, send your tailbone towards the backs of your knees and move the chest forward. Okay, we're going to shift into forearm plank, allow the knees to drop to the floor, press the forearms down, lift your pelvis, lift your torso off the floor, lift the navel, press the lower ribs and then tuck your toes under, press your thighs straight, come into forearm plank, keep your gaze steady, somewhere in front of your fingers, move the chest forward, reach your tailbone back, exhale, lower down, come back into sphinx, pause, there might be a place in your face to soften and then exhale, lower to your belly, bring your wrists underneath your elbows, stretch the legs back, lift your chest, come into a low cobra, press to hands and knees, exhale into downward facing dog, gaze back, maybe between your toes or between your knees. So the gaze, the drishti, inhale here, exhale, let your knees bend, walk your feet towards your hands, keep the feet hips distanced and just fold over your legs for a moment, let your head go, let the knees bend a little so you really release your torso towards the floor.

As you're here, folding forward, start to spread your toes, press down base of the big toe, little toe, inner and outer heel and then maybe bend the knees a little deeper, draw your chin towards your chest, take a roll up through your spine, let the head be the last thing to come up into tadasana and lift your shoulders up to your ears and just bring them back and down, that sense of the shoulder heads moving back, broadening across your collarbones, you could release your arms down, maybe rotate the arms of the palms face forward, chin parallel to the floor, that sense of rooting down to rise up through the crown of your head and then as you inhale, reach the arms all the way up, you might touch the palms, lift your chest and look up, exhale, hinge at your hips, take a little bend in your knees, this first one, folding over your legs, as you breathe in lift your chest up, look forward, exhale, bend your knees, hands to the floor, step the right leg back and then the left into plank, pause, remember pressing the index finger thumb side a little more, shift the shoulders forward, exhale, come to your belly, inhale, lift your chest, maybe stay with low cobra or press the tops of the feet, press your hands, lift up into upward facing dog and exhale, lift your hips back into downward facing dog and as we're here in this downward facing dog, spread the fingers, press down, maybe circumference of the palms, maybe the knuckles, so you lift a little weight out of the wrists, take another inhale here, exhale, bend your knees, walk your feet towards your hands, unless you like to hop, you can hop them forward, lift your chest as you inhale, fold into your legs on the exhale and then root down to rise up as you inhale, arms all the way overhead, exhaling the arms down, taking one more inhale, arms lift, as you exhale fold over your legs, on your inhale let your chest lift, keep your gaze forward as you exhale, hands to the floor, step the left leg and then the right back, shift the shoulders, you could stop halfway in chaturanga or lower to your belly, lift your chest into low cobra or to upward facing dog and exhale back into downward facing dog, so gazing maybe between your toes, between your knees, your legs are hips distance, your feet are parallel and that awareness of your hands on the floor, circumference of the palms, the knuckles press and of your next exhale let your knees bend, you could hop or I'm gonna walk your feet towards your hands, lift your chest as you inhale, fold into your legs on the exhale and then come all the way up as you inhale, reach the arms, exhale to tadasana, going on as we inhale, reach the arms overhead and this time as you exhale bend the knees, come into utkatasana, shift a little weight into the heels, think of lifting the front of the pelvis, draw the navel, lower belly in and then exhale fold on over your legs, as you breathe in lift your chest, as you exhale hands to the floor, stepping to downward dog, your right leg and then your left leg back, press index finger, thumb side, circumference of the palm, lift the forearms and then step your big toes together, you're still in downward facing dog and as you inhale lift your right leg up off the floor, trying to keep the hips even, the right hip for most of us at once to lift, lift your upper inner right thigh, as you exhale bring your knee towards your nose, pause and then inhale back to three-legged dog, as you exhale bring your right knee to the outside of your right upper arm towards your tricep, pause, inhale back, exhale bring your knee towards your nose, pause, lift the navel, lift the lower belly, look forward, step your right foot between your hands, you can come onto your fingertips, you could bring your blocks underneath your hands, lower the back left heel to the floor and we're going to bring your right arm on the inner side, the big toe side of your front right foot, so you could bring it to a block, fingertips to the floor and then reach your left arm up, you might look up at your top left thumb, you might keep your gaze forward, you might look down, have your right arm help the right leg shift back, little toe side of the foot draw the right buttock bone under, press the bottom right hand down, reach taller through the top arm, so you spread wide across your collarbones, take an inhale here and then exhale, release the top hand down and lift your back left heel off the floor, we'll move the right foot a little further to the right and then lower the back knee down, now you could bring your hands to blocks, that's what I'm going to do, or you could have your hands on the floor, allow your right leg to roll onto the little toe side of the foot so the leg rolls away from your arms and then roll in, press the big toe side of the foot down, think of firming your knee into your tricep, you could stay with your hands on your blocks, you could maybe come down onto your forearms, you might adjust your blocks like me, you could interlace your fingers so the back knee could stay down or you could straighten the back leg, look forward, the sense of reaching your chest forward and don't forget to hug in your right knee towards your tricep, towards your right shoulder, lower the back knee down, you can move your blocks to the side or keep your blocks there, move your right foot in towards the center of the hands, straighten the back leg, pause, look forward, step your back foot up to meet your front, inhale lift your chest, arda uttanasana, exhale into your legs uttanasana, bend your knees, heels pressed down, reach your arms up uttasana and press all the way up to stand tadasana, inhale your arms overhead, exhale bend your knees uttasana, remember shift a little more weight in the heels, lift the navel lower belly and then exhale folding over your legs, inhale lift your chest up, exhale hands to the floor, step your left leg back and then your right into downward facing dog, remember the hands lifting the forearms, step your big toes together, inhale the left leg up off the floor, notice the hip wanting to lift the upper inner thigh, exhale bring your knee towards your nose, pause, lift the navel, lift the lower belly, inhale back to three-legged dog, exhale your left knee to the outside of your left arm to your left tricep, inhale back to three-legged dog, exhale your knee to your nose, pause, press the palms, look forward, step your left foot between your hands, so we'll move, we'll lower the back heel to the floor, whoops, bring your left arm on the inner side of your front left leg and reach your right arm up to the sky, oh well I have an orange grove, hopefully you could smell your orange grove, press your fingertips down, reach tall through the top arm, spreading across the collarbones and draw your left buttock bone under, use your left arm to shift the left thigh back little toe side of the foot a little, take another breath here and then the top arm releases down, let the back right heel lift off the floor, you can move your left foot a little further to the left and then lower your back right knee down, so you can use your blocks, you cannot use your blocks, you can have your hands on the floor, first rolling out on the left foot, so come to the pinky toe side of the foot, let it roll away and then draw that left knee in towards your left tricep, you can stay with your hands on blocks or the floor, you can come onto your forearms, you want to draw the knee in and then you could keep the back knee down, you can straighten it, looking forward, a sense of moving the chest forward, broaden the collarbones, lower the back knee down, bring your hands to the floor, you might move your blocks to the side, move your left foot in towards the center, fingertips on the floor, hands on blocks, straighten the back leg, look forward, step your back foot up to meet your front, inhale, lift your chest, arda uttanasana, exhale, fold into your legs, uttanasana, bend the knees, press the heels, reach your arms up, utkatasana and then press and come all the way to stand, tadasana, so we'll take some squats and for a lot of us it's really helpful to have a blanket behind, we're flowing towards a crow pose, you can have your heels on the blankets, on the blanket, you can bring your feet wider than your hips and then inhale, reach your arms out and up, exhale, bend your knees, press the feet, inhale the arms out and up, exhale, bend, bend, press down, inhale, up, exhale, bend, we're taking one more, inhale, up and come into malasana, so again you can have your heels on the blanket, it helps to lift the floor so you can maybe lower your hips, have your arms on the inside of your legs, your arms can press out, press your legs into your arms, lengthen through the spine, pause here, bring your hands to the floor, hands are shoulder distance and then inhale, lift your hips, so walk your feet together here so the big toes touch and then lift your heels and lower down your hips, so your knees are on the outside of your arms by your triceps, so you can stay here working your hands index finger, thumb side, pressing the circumference of the palm, feeling a lift in your forearms, you could also take your block and you can bring your feet onto your block, have the big toes touch, hips towards the heels, palms flat, you can stay here, so we go breath by breath, inhale helps you lengthen, broaden the collarbones, exhale lifts the navel lower belly, you might press your palms, lift your hips, keep looking forward, the gaze is really important, keep looking forward so your chest moves forward, you might bend your elbows a little, bring your knees into your armpits, moving forward, press the hands, you could lift one foot at a time, you could lift two feet so your heels come towards your hips, drawing the navel lower belly and think of your tailbone moving towards your heels and then wherever your journey has taken you, maybe come back into malasana, pause, notice your breath, see if your mind has started to run, take a slightly longer exhale and then if you use the block you can put it to the side, lift your hips, come off of your blanket, have your feet hips distance and slide your hands underneath your feet, so padahastasana, your padas are on top of your hastas and fold over. So a lot of times all the way it shifts way back into the heels, shift the weight a little forward, toe side, bending the knees as you need to, to release your head, your neck, and then take your hands out, if you use the blanket, you might put your blanket to the side, bring your hands to your hips, root down through your feet, inhale, come up, release the arms, be in tadasana for a moment, take a breath in and then go ahead and just fold over your legs and step your right leg back, take a little bend in the back knee, inhale, bring your hands to your hips, so we'll take crescent, opening the front of the right hip first, you could straighten your leg, you could keep the back knee bent, maybe reaching your arms out and up, and then bring your hands to the floor, step the back foot up to the front, let your head hang for just a moment, and then step the left foot back, take a little bend in the back knee, bring your hands to your hips, pause here, suppressing a little more in the front heel, and then start to straighten the back left leg, you can keep your hands on your hips, you might inhale the arms out and up, and then bring the hands down, go ahead and step into plank pose, pressing the hands, lifting the navel, looking forward, and then shift the weight a little forward, come all the way down onto your belly, tops of the feet to the floor, lengthen your chest forward and up, and then reach your right leg back and up, reach your left leg back and up, and reach your arms back, you can keep reaching the arms back shoulder distance, you could interlace your fingers or hook your thumbs, lift the shoulder heads, reach the arms back towards your feet, bring your feet down, bend your elbows, bring your hands down, bring your forehead to the floor, and pause, lengthen your chest, fold your hands, lengthen your chest forward and up, and then reach your left leg back and up, reach your right leg back and up, reach your arms back, switch the thumb hook or switch the finger lacing, so it's the unusual way, lifting the shoulder head, so shoulder blades come towards the spine, and then exhale, release, hands come down, press to hands and knees, travel back into balasana, where we started, bend the elbows for a moment, let your head come to your hands, just noticing how your body feels right now, noticing your mind on your mat, the quality of your mind, and then let your hands come to the floor, press down, sit up, and come on to your back, back, head the knees bent, have your feet flat on the floor, roughly hips distanced, and come into a bridge pose, press your feet, lift your hips, hold on to the sides of your mat, and you can walk the shoulders underneath you, press the feet to lift the hips a little higher, and exhale, lower down, bring both knees into your chest, bring them a little more towards your armpits, rock a little bit side to side, and then slip in to thread the needle, so cross your right ankle on top of your left knee, flex the right foot, you can slide your right arm through, you could hold on the back of your left thigh, you could hold on the left knee, pausing here, and then uncross, drop the feet to the floor, pause, take a breath in, and then as you exhale, bring the knees towards your chest, and again, rock a little side to side, and then cross your left ankle on top of your right knee, and you can slide your left arm through, you could hold on to the back of the right thigh, the top of the right knee, drawing the legs in as your left thigh moves away from you, and then drop, uncross, pause here, and walk your feet wide, as you take your next exhale, just drop both knees to one side, maybe to the left, and keep the arms down by your hips, you might roll the arm so your palms face the ceiling, keep your gaze up, allow your next exhale to be maybe the longest of class so far, and then inhale, the knees come back up, exhale, drop them to the other side, so keeping your gaze up, letting the exhale start to become a little bit, little bit, little bit longer, allow your face to release, and then bring the knees up, one more time, bring the knees into your chest, flex the feet, and take a happy baby, so remembering you can hold on behind your knees, backs of the shins, outside edges of your feet, and instead of moving, be still wherever you are, and that sense that your exhale is getting longer, back of the head is releasing into the floor, upper back, the shoulders releasing down, and then drop your feet flat to the floor, and allow the legs to go straight, so let the legs be wider than your hips, and allow your legs to roll, arms are down by your side, lift your inner upper arms up so your palms face the ceiling, and eventually let the eyes close, so you can soften the belly, releasing across your forehead between your eyebrows, and allowing the front of your shoulders to release into the floor, and then if the mind is moving a lot, turn towards your breath, and you might inhale for a count of three, and perhaps you exhale for a count of five, so the exhales are a little bit longer, that sense of really releasing into the floor, so that you can let go and rest in shavasana. You might start to move your fingers, and then your toes, and your ankles, your wrists, and allow your knees to bend, you can bring your hands to your belly, pausing, and then rolling to one side, use your top hand, press yourself up to finish, you might come into a cross-legged position, you could sit on your shins, you can even take your blanket and sit up on your blanket, have your hands on your thighs, or you could bring your palms together, anjali mudra to finish, let the eyes close if you opened them, just noticing how your body is, how your breath is, and ultimately how your mind is at the end of today's practice. Have a wonderful day, thanks for joining me.