Chill Flow

Hi, I'm Patti Lewis, and today's practice is going to be a little bit more of a chill practice. We'll use some props. So have two blocks, have two blankets, and let's get started. We'll set the blankets up on our mats, have your first blanket lengthwise, give yourself a little pillow at the top of your other blanket, and have your blocks on either side. Come and sit in front of your blanket, bring the bottoms of your feet together, and you want that first blanket to catch you in the back of your hips, and then lie down on your blanket.

The pillow blanket goes underneath your head so your chin doesn't reach towards the ceiling. It reaches a little more towards the top of your chest. Take the blocks, bring them underneath your knees, under your thighs, release the arms down by your side, let the eyes close here. So really starting class by stopping. Allow your body to sink into the blankets.

And as you're releasing into the blankets, into the floor, into the blocks, noticing your mind, the quality of your mind, if there's a lot of movement, sometimes the mind feels almost heavy, or if it feels very peaceful and steady. Staying without any judgment. As you take your next breath in, let it come in through your nose and filling up just the best you can. Open wide and exhale everything out. And then let the lips touch and inhale evenly in and out through the nose.

So steadying your breath. As you take your next inhale, reach the arms up to the ceiling and bend the elbows, catch hold of the elbows. So one forearm is forward, the other one's behind. We're calling this a face frame. You framed your face.

On your next inhale, reach the frame up alongside your ears. As for the exhale, and inhale, bring the arms back up to the ceiling, straighten the arms and switch the forearm that's forward. Clasp the elbows. You framed your face here. Inhale, reach the arms up alongside your ears.

As you exhale, you might feel a little release of the front ribs into the back ribs. This time, keep the arms overhead and straighten the arms behind you, reaching long. As you exhale, release the arms down. Take your hands to the outsides of your knees and use your hands to press the knees towards each other. Your feet land on the floor.

Slide your right leg straight, flex the foot. Slide your left leg straight, flex the foot. Press the thighs straight down, opening the backs of your legs. And then inhale, reach both arms up alongside your ears. Exhale that sense of the back of your body releasing into the blankets.

Take another breath in here. And then release the hands down by your hips. Bend your knees, bring your feet flat to the floor. And roll to your right side. Use your top left hand and press yourself up.

You can move your blocks to the side. And we'll come and sit on one blanket. Sit with your shins crossed. Cross the centers of your shins, lightly flex your feet, have your knees over your heels. Reach your right arm out to the side, inhale the left arm up.

And as you exhale, take a side bend, opening the left side ribs. And then inhale all the way up. Exhale over to the other side, opening the right side ribs. Inhale up, exhale to the right, inhaling up, exhale to the left, inhale, reach both arms up and exhaling out and down. And then straighten both legs forward, flex your feet, take a little hinge forward, and then switch the cross of the shins.

Cross the centers of the shins, lightly flex your feet, have your knees over your heels. We'll take some twists. So as you inhale, reach your arms out and up. And as you exhale, start to turn to the right. You might bring your left hand outside of your right leg, bring your right fingertips behind you, inhale, come center and up, and exhale to the other side.

So right hand outside of the left leg, left fingers behind you, inhaling, center and up, exhale to the right, inhale, center and up, and exhale to your left. Inhale, come center and reach your arms up, root down the sides of your feet, your sitting bones, lengthen up through the arms, and exhale the arms out and down. And then straighten the legs, flex your feet, take a little hinge forward, and coming up, come onto your hands and knees. So you can move your blanket, unless you like to have a blanket underneath your knees, and come into tabletop. So hands shoulder distance, your shoulders over your wrist, knees under the hips.

And as you inhale, move the chest forward, slide the shoulder blades towards your spine as you arch. Exhale, press the hands, drop the head, drop the tailbone, and round. Inhaling into the arch, stretching the front of your body. Inhale your shoulder blades, slide away from your spine, stretching the back of your body. One more inhale into the arch.

Exhale to round, lift the navel, lift the lower belly, inhale, come into center. And then tuck the toes and straighten your right leg back, pause, send your tailbone towards your heels, press the palms, straighten your left leg back here in plank, we're going into downward dog, press the hands, lift your hips, Adho Mukha Svanasana, you can pedal your feet, bend one knee, release the other heel, and switch sides, and then switch sides. And one more switching of sides. And then inhale, lift the heels high off the floor, exhale, come back down to your hands and knees, come back into tabletop, inhaling to arch, exhale round you, lift the front of the body to your back body, inhaling, stretching the front of the body, broaden the collarbones into the arch, exhaling to round, inhaling into the arch, exhaling to round, inhale, come into center, straighten the left leg back, press the palms, straighten the right leg back here in plank, from plank lift your hips, come into Adho Mukha Svanasana, downward facing dog, let the legs be hips distance, your feet are parallel, pause here, step your big toes together in downward dog, and as you inhale, lift your right leg up off the floor, as you exhale, bring the knee towards your nose, and step your right foot between your hands, you're in a high lunge, you might move your right foot a little closer to the right block, and then lower the back knee down, top of the back foot comes to the floor, inhale, reach your arms up, and take the face frame, so bend the elbows, catch hold of the elbows, root down the front heel, top of the back foot, lengthen up, exhale, take a little tilt to the right, open the left side ribs, inhale back, exhale, take a little tilt to the left, inhale back, reach your arms straight up, and then bring your hands behind your hips, move the shoulder heads back, interlace the fingers, reach your knuckles towards the back heel, release the hands to your blocks, curl the back toes under, straighten your back leg, we're going into a wide twist, we'll leave the left hand on the block, and as we inhale, turn to the right, and reach the right arm straight up, press the bottom left hand down, reach taller through the top arm, and then exhale, bring the top hand down, move the blocks to the side, step back into downward dog, inhale, come forward into plank pose, lower the knees, shift the shoulders, exhale all the way down to your belly, bring the tops of your feet to the floor, inhale, lift your chest, lobu jangasana, press to hands and knees, tuck your toes, shift into downward dog, pause here, and then lift your heels, lower down, take your blocks again for the other side, so hands on the blocks, just lift the floor a little bit, so it's a little more accessible to bring the leg forward, come back into downward dog, let your big toes come together, inhale the left leg up, exhale, bring the knee towards your nose, and step your left foot between your hands, lower the back knee down, you might move your left foot a little closer to the left block, top of the back foot is on the floor, and then inhale, reach your arms out and up, you might remember which forearm was forward, you might not, take your little face frame, press down, lengthen up through the elbows, exhale, take a little tilt over to the left, come up to center, take a little tilt over to the right, opening the side ribs, come to center, reach your arms out, and then interlace the fingers behind your back, and switch the pinky finger and all the other fingers so it's the more unusual, less taken way, reach your knuckles back towards your heels, and then release the hands to the blocks, curl the back toes under, straight in the back leg, so we'll take a twist, right hand stays on the floor, inhale, reach your left arm all the way up, maybe you even look up at your thumb, or you can keep your gaze forward, and then exhale, the top hand down, move your blocks to the side, step back into downward facing dog, inhale, pull yourself forward into plank, lower the knees, exhale to your belly, tops of the feet to the floor, inhale, lift your chest, pause here, press the feet, lift the shoulder heads, and then lower the knees, press the hands and knees, bring your knees a little wide, come into balasana for a moment, keep your arms forward, settle your hips towards your heels, so kind of just a moment to reconnect to your breath, to notice if all of your attention is somewhere other than your mat, maybe using your breath as a gentle guide back onto your mat, and then come up to your hands and knees, let's set the blocks up again, we'll flow into some standing poses from downward dog, tuck the toes, come into downward facing dog, and then as you inhale, let your right leg lift, as you exhale, bring the knee towards your nose, step your foot between your hands, lower the back heel to the floor, and then come right up into warrior two, so lift your shoulders over your hips, reach your arms out, bend deep in your front right knee, the knee moves out over the middle of your front foot, stay strong in the back heel, let the shoulders release, let your face soften, and then inhale, straighten your front right leg, being careful, mindful of your block, turn your right foot forward, bring your hands to your hips, inhale and exhale folding over, feel free to allow the knees to bend so your hands come to the floor, allow your head to hang, and walk your hands back behind your legs, you can be on your fingertips, allow the head to hang, and then inhale walking yourself forward, lift your chest, pause, bring your hands to your hips, take a little bend in your knees, inhale come all the way up, and then rotate the right leg open, reach the arms out, exhale bend, find your warrior two again, bring your right forearm to your right thigh, reach the left arm alongside your ear, stay with your forearm on your thigh or maybe it comes down to your block, reach along from the back heel to the top arm, let the top hand come down back heel, lift, we'll shift into downward facing dog, and as you're here again noticing your breath, notice where your mind is, and you might use your breath as a guide back onto your mat, into your body, and then as you inhale let the left leg lift, as you exhale bring the knee towards your nose, and step your left foot between your hands, lowering your back heel down, really anchor that back heel, press, come up into warrior two, left arm forward, right arm back, knee is bent over your ankle, gazing out, soften the tops of the shoulders, softening in your face, inhale straighten your front left leg, and just being aware of your block as you turn your left foot forward, hands to your hips, inhale, and exhaling over, bring your hands to the floor, and then this time we're going to walk the hands forward, so for me I'm walking towards the orange grove, allow the head to hang, and then walking the hands back, bring your hands to your hips, take a little bend, inhale come all the way up, and then rotate the left leg open, allow the back foot to shift, back hip, inhale the arms up, exhale bend your front left knee, and then bring your left forearm to your thigh, reach your right arm alongside your ear, you might stay here, you might bring your left hand to your block, reach long from the back heel all the way up to the top arm, exhale the top hand down, back heel lifts up, and step back into downward facing dog, pause here, notice the mind, notice your breath, steady the breath, it might help steady the mind, take another inhale here, last downward dog as you exhale, lower down to your hands and knees, bring the knees a little wider than your hips, let the big toes come together, come back into child's pose, ballasana with your hands on the blocks, you could even crawl your hands a little forward, so an extended ballasana, feel the hips sink back towards your heels, feel the arms extend forward, so you're lengthening on the side body, and then bring your hands to the floor, press yourself, come all the way up and take a blanket, sit on your blanket, you can have your blocks nearby, they might prove helpful, and bring your legs apart for some seated postures, so bring the legs wide, have the knees and toes pointed up, and then we'll bend the right knee, have the side of the right thigh on the floor, so the foot comes along your left leg, here's where it might be helpful to have a block on the inside of your left hand, I have long arms, so I don't need the block, reach your right arm up, and then exhale, take a side bend, so you're opening the right side ribs, and then as you take your next exhale, allow the right thigh to release a little further down, you might feel a little more opening in the ribs, in the hip, inhale, come up, exhale the hand down, and then straighten your right leg, and bend the left knee, so the side of the left thigh is on the floor, the foot is alongside your right thigh, bring your right fingertips on the inside, inhale your left arm up, and exhale, take a side bend, so opening the left side ribs, you want to allow the left hip, the left thigh to release down, and then inhale up, exhale the arm down, straighten the left leg out, we're going forward, so you could have your blocks underneath your hands, press the thighs down, find length on the sides of your torso, and then walk yourself any amount forward you can, allow the elbows to bend, bring your forearms to the floor, press the thighs down, move your chest forward, so keep finding length if you can in the side body, exhale, allow the eyes to close, find some ease, some softness in the face, the tops of the shoulders, and then walk yourself back up out of Upavishta Konasana, bend the knees, and bring the bottoms of the feet together, so notice if your habit or your tendency is to pull your heels very close to your pelvis, have some space between your pelvis and your heels, have your hands around your ankles, inhale, find length up, keep the length as you exhale, start to hinge forward, and then you might again walk your hands any amount forward you can, Baddha Konasana, allowing the thighs to open, notice if your breath shifts, if you start to find tension in your face, across the forehead, between the eyebrows, you might walk yourself a little out of the pose, find ease in the face, find steadiness in your breath, and then walk yourself all the way up, take your hands to the outsides of the knees, press the knees together and then slide the legs straight, last seated posture here, hands on the floor, lengthen up and then hinge over, again walk your hands forward towards your feet, you can bring your hands around your feet, you can have your hands near your knees, take an inhale to lengthen and exhaling over your legs, so Paschimottanasana, it's easier here to breathe into the back of your body, imagine as you inhale the back ribs could inflate, exhale soften in the face and then inhale, walk yourself up, and then bend your knees, we're coming onto our backs, so bring your blanket to the side, have your blocks nearby, you might use them, and lie down on your back, have the heels close to the hips, have your feet hips distanced, spread the toes, press your feet down, come up into a bridge pose, so lifting the hips, and walk your shoulders underneath you, you might bend the elbows, press the elbows, the upper arms down, lift the chest a little higher, as you exhale lower down, and then press down inhale back up into bridge, opening the fronts of the hips from taking all the forward folds, the seated postures, where we close the hips off, send the back of your pelvis towards the backs of your knees, and then take a block and bring it underneath your sacrum and lower the hips down, so the sacrum the flat bony part of your spine, release the arms down by your side, and as you exhale bring the knees over your hips and straighten the legs up to the ceiling, pause here, so kind of a modified legs up the wall, allow the back of your head and your upper back to sink into the floor, and then exhale let the knees bend, see if you can touch your feet at the same time, or notice which foot might touch first, and then on an inhale slide your right leg straight, flex the right foot, let the thigh press straight down, stay here, or bring your left knee into your chest, hold on to the top of the knee, allowing the left thigh to move in as your right thigh presses down away, bring the left foot to the floor, bend your right knee, bring the right foot to the floor, and then slide the left leg straight, allow the left thigh to press straight down, stay with your right knee bent, foot on the floor, or you might exhale, bring the right knee in towards your chest, so as the right thigh moves in press the left thigh straight down, you'll feel again an opening in the front of the hip, let the right foot come to the floor, bend your left knee, bring that foot to the floor, pause here, again the sense of releasing the back of your head, your upper back, and then press the feet down just enough to lift your hips and take your block out, and bring your block to the side, walk the feet wider than your hips, and as you exhale drop the knees to the left, keep the feet wide, and maybe turn your head to the right, you might reach your right arm up alongside your ear, so you might feel some length, one more time on the right side, and then bring the knees up, release your arm down, drop the knees over to the right, you can drop your head to the left, and you might reach the left arm up alongside your ear, feeling some length on the left side of the body, and then bring the knees up, bring your knees into your chest, bring your hands to the tops of the knees, take a gentle rock side to side, drop the feet flat to the floor, slide the legs straight, and because we have the props here, you can take your blankets and bring your blankets on top of your thighs, allowing the thighs to release down, allow the belly to soften, let your arms drop down by your side, so a little weight on the front of the body can sometimes feel soothing, and if it doesn't, you can move your blankets, but with a little weight, sometimes it helps us to release into the floor, letting go in the face, letting go of the breath, and resting in Shavasana. Cheers! Thank you.

Begin to bring some small movements into your fingers, into your wrists. And then let one hand come to your heart, one to your belly, feeling the breath moving in, moving out of your body. Start to move the toes and the ankles. And then as you bend your knees, slide the blankets to the side. Turn onto your right side, use your top hand, press yourself all the way up.

Come into a seated cross-legged position. Bring your hands to your thighs and let the eyes close to finish out your practice. And noticing how your body feels after a lower, more chill kind of practice, maybe. As you take your next breath in, let your chest lift. And as you exhale, you can bring your chin to your chest, maybe pausing to thank yourself for your effort, for showing up on your mat today.

And I thank you for joining me and practicing with me. Have a great day.