Teaching Slow Flow

Teaching Note: Introduction

Theme of class

Welcome everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. I'd love to introduce you to my yogi friends. This is Betsy and this is Karen. Thank you both so much for being with us. We're looking at a slow flow practice today.

Something that I'm really enjoying lately is this kind of slowing down, tuning inward, taking a little more space in the practice to feel the more subtle layers, which I find really nourishing for the nervous system. You can still flow, you can still do chaturangas, you can still do challenging postures. You can just do it in a more kind of slow, steady, gentle way. Hope you find it nourishing. Thank you for being here. Namaste.

Practice: Opening

Pranayama and Visualization

Let's begin by lying on our backs.

Go ahead and find the earth and choose any prop that feels good under the knees. We definitely want support here. We'll be resting, breathing, releasing for at least a few minutes. So you want the body to be nice and supported. You can have a blanket under the knees, maybe a bolster under the knees.

Find that sweet spot in your body. And once you've landed, let the body begin to sink down into the earth. And the breath is effortless for the time being, a really soft gaze, or if it's comfortable for you, go ahead and let the eyes close. And for now, let your awareness gently move through the body and notice if there are any spaces where you might be kind of holding unnecessarily. And if possible, begin to let them soften, maybe just a little.

And then together through the nose, let's take a nice big inhale. And then go ahead and open the mouth and exhale. Let it go. Yeah. We'll do that once again. A big inhale through the nose.

And then open the mouth and exhale. Let it go. From here, we'll move into a really simple pranayama practice. It's a sustained inhale deep into the belly. And then a complete exhale, we really want to release all the breath out.

And then a slight pause at the bottom of the exhale. And then again, we'll fill it up. I'll cue the breath, but always, of course, if you feel a different rhythm is better for your body, take that instead. So wherever you are in your breath cycle, just let all the air out. And then together through the nose, inhaling.

Through the nose, exhaling. Empty completely and hold the breath out. Again, through the nose, a big inhale. And through the nose, exhale. All the breath out, stay empty.

And again, through the nose, inhale. And through the nose, exhale. Stay empty. Inhaling. Exhaling.

All the breath out and pause. One more cycle. Big inhale through the nose. Empty completely. Stay empty.

And then just let the breath flow in again. And from here, let the breath flow freely. And just let yourself feel this release, this grounding. And the deep, nourishing breath. Throughout the flow of this practice, we're intentionally slowing down, moving deeply, letting the whole system replenish and regenerate by being really gentle with our bodies and ourselves.

If it resonates for you, you might imagine something energetically, physically, emotionally kind of emptying out of the body into the earth. And a moment to let go. And then sustaining this, let's draw the hands onto the body, maybe hand to heart, hand to belly, maybe both hands on the belly or the heart. Just let them rest wherever they're most comfortable. And we'll take a gentle om here together, feeling the vibration of the sound with the hands on the body.

So exhale, empty it all out. And then together through the nose, a big inhale. Om. And then just another moment of stillness. Resetting a personal intention for your flow, anything at all that resonates.

Distill it down. Maybe root it in the body.

Teaching Note: Opening

Setting Tone for Class

The essence of this practice is all about resting, replenishing, regenerating, moving really slowly and deeply. So we're starting on the earth, just full body release with some support with the props. And the pranayama practice is specifically designed to kind of slow things down to settle and nourish the nervous system.

Hopefully this is setting the tone for moving in a really deeply relaxed and settled way. From here, we'll begin to move really gently.

Practice: Warm Up

Supine postures

So let's hug both knees in towards the chest and let the arms wrap around the legs. And then just kind of gently rock a little side to side. Yeah.

If you feel for it, you can welcome in a gentle ujjayi breath if sort of softer, more effortless breath feels better, allow that. From here, we'll keep the right knee hugging in towards the chest and just let the left foot land on the earth, left knee bent. Lots of different variations for this. I invite you to do what feels best in your body. We're going to slowly begin to lengthen that right leg.

So Betsy will either loop around the big toe or interlace her hands behind the leg, and Karen will show the strap variation with the strap hooked around the ball of the foot. If you have a strap at home, great. If you have a towel or a belt, that could work too. So then slowly beginning to lengthen that right leg up to the sky and always, of course, feel into your own edge, doesn't need to be full extension. You can kind of ease into it breath by breath.

Yeah. Nice. And we'll stay here, five, six, seven more breaths, really giving the body time to open into it. The breath moves into the back of the right leg, hamstring muscles, calf muscles, and you can play with kind of intentionally extending out through that right heel a little bit to help awaken it and deepen it. Yeah.

Another way to play with this pose is to keep the left leg as is or slowly begin to extend the left leg out long. Again, whatever feels better for your body. If you do extend that left leg, we want to keep the foot flexed, the leg relatively active and kind of pressing out through the base of that left big toe. Yeah. A couple more breaths here.

Yeah. Just warming and opening slowly. All right. From here, keeping the leg extended, we're going to slowly on an inhale, lift the head and chest up to meet the leg, right? No strain, engaging through the center, rising for a few breaths, and you can see Karen has reached for the strap with both hands.

Lovely option. A little bit more support as you rise. Nice. Let's stay for the inhale here and then keep the grip, but exhale, release the head and the chest back down to the earth, right? From here, we're going to add a twist, and there are lots of fun ways to do this.

Karen will take the strap in the other hand to let the leg fall across the body, and Betsy will draw her left hand to the outer edge of the right foot and then let the leg fall across from there. Leg can be straight or feel free to bend the knee here, right? Again, the body will know what it needs. Feel into that. Then once you've found the twist, let the gaze move towards the right fingertips so that the twist moves all the way up the length of the spine through the neck, out crown of head. Yes, nice.

Breathing into this for three, two, and yeah, as you're ready, inhale, drawing it back to center and just pausing neutral here for the inhale. Good. Let's stay for the inhale. And slowly, with strength of center, with control, exhale, release. That leg comes all the way back down to the earth, arms alongside the body, strapped to the side for the time being. Yeah, and then once the legs have landed, let them kind of rock in and out a little bit.

Whew, just a sweet release. With the next inhale, draw both knees back in towards the chest, wrap arms around the legs, let yourself rock a little bit, and then we'll switch to the other side. So the left knee stays hugging in towards the body and the right foot roots on the earth for the time being. Then again, you find your grip and begin to slowly inhale, lift that leg towards the sky. So looping big toe or interlacing the hands behind the thigh or finding the strap, right?

And then it's that exploration. It's that meeting the edge with breath, with awareness. We're not maxing out. We're not straining or efforting. We're just kind of feeling into the edge of the posture, meeting it with breath and letting it open slowly. Yes, exactly, Betsy.

So you can bend the knee a little and then extend, bend the knee a little and extend, walk the hand up the strap a little, ease back, just kind of, yeah, play with the edge. And again, you can keep that right knee bent, foot on the earth, or slowly let the leg extend all the way out. If you are taking that variation, keep the leg active. We don't want it to collapse and roll open so the foot is flexed. We're gently pressing out through base of big toe and keeping the energy moving out through that leg.

Nice. Couple more breaths here. And then sustaining this slowly on the inhale, let the upper body rise towards the leg as the legs draw down towards the chest. Both hands can come to the strap. You can walk it up a little bit. Yes, excellent. Another breath or two. And then with control, using strength of center, release the head and the chest down to the earth and gently release the leg all the way back down to the earth.

And when the legs land, let arms rise, strap to the side and just kind of rock the legs in and out a little bit. Find that fluid movement that's so juicy for the body. Nice. Another breath here. And just let everything relax.

Teaching Note: Warm Up

Gently warming legs

In this opening section, we're moving really slowly, staying on our backs, beginning to warm the body and open things up, but doing it in a very gentle, slow way, remaining in contact with the earth.

From here, we'll start to rock forward and generate a little bit more movement. But again, in this spirit of slowness and gentleness. From here, let's draw both knees in towards the chest again

Practice: Low Flow

Low postures, modified Vinyasas

and gently start to rock forward and back. Massaging the spine can be slow movements at first and then deepening, making the rock a little bigger until you're all the way up on the hands and the knees. Let the hands ground under the shoulders, the knees under the hips, neutral spine for now, feel a slight engagement from that deep low belly.

And then as you're ready with the next inhale, lifting the tailbone, the heart, the gaze, gently looking up and with the exhale, rounding the back belly to spine, releasing the head. Again, big inhale, lifting tailbone, heart, gaze. And with the exhale, let the back round, belly to spine. We'll take three, four or five more cycles. Stay with this simple range of movement or circle the head and the neck, circle the hips, creating kind of a spiral through the spine.

It's really any intuitive movement that feels good in your cat cow. Yeah, let it be really fluid, supple, even pleasurable. Nice. Another breath or two. Good. And then take your time, finding stillness.

Pausing here, let's take a big inhale. And with the exhale, just sink the hips back towards the heels for child's pose. Your knees can be together or wide. The arms can extend or drop back alongside the body. Again, making contact with the earth and releasing, releasing, releasing, letting everything soften.

Just looking for as many opportunities as possible to let go, to kind of give it back to the earth, to let the system rest and replenish. As you're ready, on the next inhale, lift to the hands and the knees. And then tucking the toes and with the exhale, up and back, downward facing dog. Let's give these three, four or five breaths, kind of pedal the feet, shift the hips a little side to side, continuing to lengthen through the backs of the legs and warming through spine and muscles of back. Nice.

Yeah. And then take a breath to find stillness in your down dog. We're going to move through a really gentle modified vinyasa. With the next inhale, ripple it forward into your plank pose. And then with the exhale, lower knees to the earth and then come all the way down.

Good. With the inhale, just a gentle cobra rise as high as feels good. With the exhale, let the body melt back down to the earth. Inhale, pressing to the hands and the knees. And exhale, return to child's pose.

Back to the earth. Sweet. With the next inhale, rise to hands and knees. Exhale, tuck the toes, go back into your downward facing dog. Let's do that one more time.

With the inhale, roll it forward, plank pose. With the exhale, lower knees and then all the way to the earth. Inhale, lifting through the heart cobra as high as feels good. Exhale, release all the way back down. Inhale, press to hands and knees.

Exhale into child's pose, hips to heels, just saddling. Inhale, returning to hands and knees. Tuck the toes, exhale, downward facing dog. Yeah. And then from here, on your inhale, just a slow walk forward to the front of the mat.

As you arrive at Uttanasana, standing forward fold, feet are hips distance, head is heavy. Hands can fall, you can hold opposite elbows, you might let the upper body sway a little side to side. Give it a couple breaths. Again, continuing to release, maybe even imagining crown of head opening, all those thoughts, distractions, concerns. It's kind of emptying onto the mat.

Then if you're swaying, find center and if you have a bind, let it go. Keep the gentle bend in the knees and very slowly with your inhale, roll the body all the way to stand. As you arrive, let the shoulders relax down the back. And then heel, toe the feet together, draw the hands to prayer at the heart center. Samasthiti.

Teaching Note: Low Flow

Warming body with for Flow

As we continue to open, we're warming the body and we're doing it in a really kind of slow, fluid way. Also, working with the vinyasas in a modified way, bringing knees down, adding child's pose between. I really like the idea that we can stay in a vinyasa flow practice, but we can do it in a more modified, gentle way.

Practice: Main Flow

Modified Sun Salutes, standing poses

With the next inhale, sweep the arms out and up. And with the exhale, bow out and down, deep fold to the earth.

Inhale to lengthen halfway. With the exhale, step into plank pose and pause. And stay here for the inhale. And with the exhale, lower the knees and come all the way to the earth, sustaining this gentle vinyasa. Inhale to cobra as high as feels good.

Exhale, release back to the earth. Inhale, press to hands and knees and exhale to child's pose. With the next inhale, rise hands and knees and exhale up and back, downward facing dog. We'll take three deep, slow, steady breaths here. Just continuing to land in the body in the warm and open.

And at the bottom of the exhale, soft bend in the knees, hop or step front of the mat. As you arrive, inhale to lengthen halfway, exhaling bow and fold. Strong through the center, inhale to rise all the way up. And then tracing the midline, exhale, hands to prayer, heart center. Again, inhale, we reach out and up.

Exhaling to bow out and down. Halfway on the inhale, exhale, stepping back into plank pose, pausing here. Stay for the inhale, buoyant through the center. And with the exhale, lower the knees and then come all the way down to the earth. Inhale to cobra, exhale, release.

Inhale, rise to hands and knees. Exhale, child's pose. Sink for a moment. With the next inhale, rise to the hands and the knees. And with the exhale, tuck the toes, moving back into downward facing dog.

Yeah. And again, three deep, slow, steady breaths here, deepening in. Nice. Yeah. And then at the bottom of the exhale, a soft bend in the knees, hop or step front of the mat.

As you arrive, inhale, we lengthen halfway, exhaling, bow and fold strong through the center. Inhale to rise all the way up. And with the exhale, hands to prayer at the heart. Good. Grounding here for a breath through the nose, inhaling and through the nose exhaling. All right.

With the next inhale, reaching the arms out and up. And with the exhale, bow and fold. Then with the inhale, lengthen just halfway. And with your exhale, step the left foot back for a low lunge. So releasing the back knee down to the earth.

Yes, good. Let's start with the hands on the front thigh. So inhale, just rise, hands interlace on the thigh, grounding here on the exhale. Feel the tailbone descending, feel the heart rising. Yeah.

And then we keep this and add the arms with the inhale, reaching to the sky. Palms can be open, fingers can interlace, palms press to sky. Find the variation here that feels best in your body. And just breathe into it for three, two. With the exhale, release.

Hands come down to the earth and slowly draw the hips back for Ardha Hanumanasana. Hands on the earth or on blocks, whatever's best in your body. Once you found it, inhale, extending out through heart center and exhale, deepening into the fold, back knee still to the earth. Yeah. And breathing into the back of the right leg for three, two.

All right. In a moment, we're going to flow between these two, just kind of riding the breath, following my pace or trusting your own. So, as you're ready, on the next inhale, come forward, bending the front knee, sweep the arms to the sky for that low lunge. And with the exhale, release, hands to the earth, draw the hips back, Ardha Hanumanasana. Yes.

Again, on the inhale, come forward, bend the front knee, reaching the arms to the sky. With the exhale, release, hands to earth, draw the hips back, lengthen right leg. Yes. Once again, inhale, we rise all the way up, reach arms to sky. Exhale, release, hands to the earth, pull the hips back, deepening with repetition.

Good. From here, with the next inhale, come forward into your low lunge again, reach the arms to the sky, and then just keep the legs as is. With your exhale, release the hands down to the earth, tuck the back toes, lift the back knee. From center, inhale, sweep that right leg all the way up and back, three-legged dog. And as you exhale, open the hip, bend the knee.

Yes. Give this a full breath, opening that outer right hip. And then inhale, reach it straight up to the sky. And with the exhale, just release, downward-facing dog. Mm-hmm.

With the next inhale, reach the left leg to the sky. With the exhale, open the hip, bend the knee, give it a full breath. Yeah. And as you're ready, inhale, reach it straight up and back again. And with the exhale, step that foot forward, release the right knee down to the earth.

Let's start with hands on front thigh again in that low lunge, just kind of landing in the posture, descending through the tailbone, lifting through the heart. Yeah. And then we add the arms. Inhale, sweep it up. And again, palms can be open or fingers interlace, find the expression that feels good for you.

And breathe into this, three, and two. Big inhale here, and with the exhale, hands come down, draw the hips straight back, stay low for Ardha Hanumanasana. Mm-hmm. With the inhale, lengthen out through the heart. And with the exhale, deepen into the fold, breathing into the back of that left leg.

Mm-hmm. Three. Two. Yeah, in a moment, we're going to link these two again, following the breath. With the next inhale, come forward, bending the front knee, reach the arms to the sky in your low lunge.

And with the exhale, release, hands to the earth, draw the hips back, return to Ardha Hanumanasana. Yes. Again, inhale coming forward, reaching the arms up, exhale, release, hands to earth, pull the hips back, deepen in, nice. With the next inhale again, rise, lifting all the way up, and exhale, release, hands down, pull the hips back. Mm-hmm.

This time, with the inhale, come forward, bending the front knee, reach the arms to the sky, find that low lunge. Keep the legs as they are, with the exhale, release the hands to the earth, pausing here, we're going to tuck the back toes, lift the back knee, and then with your inhale, step the right foot forward to meet the left, and lengthen halfway, exhale, bow, and fold, beautiful. Keep the head heavy, really slowly with the inhale, we're going to roll to stand again. And then as you arrive, exhale, let the shoulders release back and down, hands to the heart. With the next inhale, we rise, reach out and up, and with the exhale, bow out and down.

Mm-hmm. Inhale, come halfway, this time with your exhale, step the right foot back, lower the right knee, find that grounding, and then with the inhale, reach arms to the sky, returning to your low lunge. And with the exhale, we're going to add a side body stretch here, so release the left forearm to the left thigh, or take your left hand outside of your left hip to the earth or up on a block, right? Again, find the variation that works for you. And then once you're settled, play with us a little bit, you're kind of guiding the hips forward and simultaneously reaching up and out with the right arm, finding space through that whole right side body.

Another breath or two, mm-hmm, using strength of center for the transition, inhale, draw it back up, arms rise, and then with the exhale, release the hands to the earth, we're going to come into lizard here, so hands move inside of the front foot, and that right knee, right toes can stay hugging in towards the body or you can open them out. From here, you can stay on the hands or release down onto the forearms to the earth or on a block, kind of middle path, yeah. Always finding the variation that feels best for you. Breathing into this for three, mm-hmm, two, yeah. Slowly on the inhale, let the upper body rise.

And then with the exhale, take the hands either side of the front foot, tuck the back toes, lift the back knee, inhale, sweep the left leg all the way up and back, three-legged dog. And with the exhale, just let it go, returning to downward-facing dog, mm-hmm, good. Second side, inhale, sweep the right leg to the sky, exhale, step that foot forward, lower the back knee down to the earth, grounding the body, and then low lunge, inhale, reaching the arms up. And then with the exhale, into that side body stretch, so resting right forearm to right thigh or taking the hand outside of the hip on the earth or on a block, yes. And then once you've found it really easing in, let the hips continue to guide forward, breathing into left hip flexors, and reach, reach, reach up and over through that left arm, creating space in the side body, yeah, another breath or two, mm-hmm.

From center, with the next inhale, rise, reaching, arms up. And then with the exhale, release, hands to the earth, moving into lizards, so draw the hands inside of that front foot, and again, keep it neutral or turn the toes out, knee out, stay on the hands, release down onto the forearms, a few breaths here, just kind of notice where the sticky spots are, move the breath into them. With the next inhale, walk the upper body back in and up, and with the exhale, take the hands either side of the front foot. We're gonna tuck the back toes, lift the back knee, and then with the inhale, left foot steps forward to meet the right, and lengthen halfway. With the exhale, bow and fold, keep the head heavy, and just slowly with the inhale again, rolling the body all the way to stand.

Take your time. As you arrive, roll shoulders back and down, feet together, hands to prayer, heart center. With the next inhale, sweep the arms out and up, and with the exhale, bow out and down. With the inhale, lengthen just halfway, with the exhale, step back into your plank pose. We're gonna pause here, steady for a big inhale, exhale, lower the knees, and come all the way down, take that gentle vinyasa, inhale, lifting cobra, exhale back to the earth, inhale, rise to the hands and the knees, and this time with the exhale, we'll go straight back into downward facing dog, skipping the child's pose, good.

With the next inhale, reach, right leg goes to the sky, and with the exhale, step that foot forward, we're coming into a high lunge, so once the feet are grounded, lift from center and rise on the inhale, reaching, reaching, reaching, we'll take a moment here, exhale just kind of steady the body, let everything deepen and settle, nice. Big inhale, and then exhale, take the hands to prayer at the heart center, inhale, lift from low belly, and then exhale, start to ease the upper body forward, we're gonna gently transition into a warrior three, you can keep the hands at the heart, you can reach the arms out alongside the ears, you can even take the hands down to the earth or blocks, finding your variation of warrior three rising as you're ready, feel free to fall, just play with it, see what's there, good. Steady breath, nice, sustaining this, then let the hands exactly come to the earth for standing splits, left leg sails to the sky, just let it wobble, let it play, good, breathing into that extension, feel all that opening we've done in the hamstring muscles, then we stay for the inhale, and with the exhale, bending both knees kind of curling down towards the earth without coming all the way down, and then inhale, reach, left leg goes back to the sky, exhale, curling down, once again, inhale, reach all the way up, this time with the exhale, you're going to come all the way into a seated twist, so release, tuck that knee behind the right ankle and ease the sit bones to the earth, get there in any way that makes sense in your body, take your time, and then once you're landed, pretty even weight through the sit bones, with the next inhale, reach the left arm to the sky, and with the exhale, twist, take the left elbow outside of the right knee or wrap left arm around right leg, let your inhales lengthen you and gently deepen into it with the exhales, yes, couple more breaths, using these twists to help clear, cleanse, release, stay in the twist with the inhale, just look forward, and then with the exhale, take a counter twist to the other side, the back can be tall or you can let the back round, just kind of balancing it out, nice, then we'll inhale, draw it back to center, and with the exhale, unwind the legs and we're going to play with transitioning back into a standing splits from here, so ease the weight forward, hands on the earth or up on blocks, use the strength of center and slowly inhale, reach the left leg back to the sky, yes, take your time, and then once you have it, stay for your inhale, and with the exhale, step the left foot back just about halfway, modified stance here, yes, right foot a little right of center, left a little left of center, blocks if you'd like, from here we're going to inhale, lengthen just halfway, and with the exhale, take the hands to the hips, the belly to the spine, then inhaling, rise all the way up, good, exhale, we just ground, feel your feet, connect with the earth, tall spine, yeah, then inhaling, reach the arms out and up, and with the exhale, take the arms back behind, lots of options, hold your wrists, hold your elbows, or take the hands to reverse prayer behind the heart, yeah, grounding especially through base of right big toe, inhale, lift all the way up the front body, and exhale, extend out and down for parsvottanasana, you can work with a straight spine and gaze at the big toe or you can let the back round and gaze at the navel, excellent, breathing here, three, two, yeah, we're going to stay in the fold with the exhale, simply release the hands back to the earth or the blocks, and just release into it for a breath, right, from here, inhale, lengthen halfway, and with your exhale, you're going to bend the front knee and just step the left foot to the back of the mat again, nice long lunge, hands rooting, lift from center with the inhale, sweep the right leg all the way back to the sky, and with the exhale, really shake it out, downward facing dog, give the body a breath or two here, come back to your center, come back to your intention, nice and easy, right, kind of clearing the slate, open mind, beginner's mind for the second side. As you're ready, inhale, sweep the left leg to the sky, and then with the exhale, step that left foot forward, high lunge or crescent pose, root the feet, lift from center, inhale all the way up, and then just steady yourself here for a moment, deepening into it, descending through tailbone, drawing deep belly in and up, yeah, big inhale, and then exhale, hands to prayer, heart center, inhale, let the front body rise again, and with your exhale, just ease forward, the transition into warrior three is entirely up to you, you can move from here, you can take hands to earth or blocks, you can reach the arms out like wings or alongside the ears, make it yours, and then breathe into it, nice, another breath, and then hands to the earth, so right leg to sky, standing splits, good, couple breaths here, and let's play with that curling in as we approach the earth, so on the exhale, bending both knees, coming down, inhale, reach right leg back to the sky, exhale, bend and curl in, good, this time inhale, reach all the way up, and with the exhale, you're coming all the way down to sit, tucking that right knee behind the left ankle, get there in the way that feels best, that feels safe in your body, and then once you're rooted, pretty even weight on the sit bones, inhale, reach the right arm up to the sky, and exhale, twist, tucking the elbow outside of the knee or wrapping arm around leg, let the inhales create a little more length in the spine, and let the exhales kind of deepen you into the twist, another breath or two, and we keep the twist, inhale, just turn to look forward, and then exhale, basic counter twist to the other side, spine is tall or back is rounding, just personal preference, breath or two here, and then inhale, draw it back to center, exhale, unwind the legs and just plant the feet, we're going to move from here back into the standing splits, so again, do what feels wise in your body, grounding that left foot, lifting from center, right leg to the sky, and then gently, we're going to step the right foot back just about halfway shorter than most standing poses, left foot is left of center, right, right of center, give your hips some space, hands on blocks if you'd like, and then once you're rooted, we're going to inhale just halfway, strong through center, exhale, take the hands to the hips and really draw the belly to the spine, yeah, lift from there, inhale, rise, and exhale, ground, stabilize for a breath or so, inhale, both arms to the sky, exhale, reach back, and again, you choose, hold wrists or elbows or hands to reverse prayer, then ground, especially through base of left big toe, inhale, all the way up front body and exhale, extend out and then down, straight spine gazing at big toe or let the background gaze at the navel, three, two, and we stay in the fold and with the exhale, just release, hands come down either side of the front foot, let everything kind of settle here, nice, and then with your inhale, lengthen halfway up, with your exhale, bend the left knee and just step the right foot towards the back of the mat, lengthening the stance, and then strong through center, inhale, sweep the left leg all the way up to the sky, and then exhale, take it out, let it go, releasing downward facing down, excellent work, good, pausing here, take a big expansive inhale, yeah, and open the mouth, exhale, let it go, releasing the knees to the earth, sinking the hips to the heels, landing in child's pause, just rest.

Teaching Note: Main Flow

Generate heat, strengthen, balance

This is the body of the class.

We start to move a little bit more, generate some more heat and flow. We're definitely working with some challenging postures, some balance, and some strengthening, however we're doing it in a kind of slow, supple way. So the idea is you can still challenge yourself in your flow practice, however you can do it from a spirit of ease and fluidity.

Practice: Closing

Cooling poses, Savasana

Gently on an inhale, rise to the hands and the knees, and then tucking the toes, exhale, go back into your downward facing dog. We'll come through to sit, so at the bottom of the exhale, soft bend in the knees, hopper step through, and let's land in dandasana, seated staff.

Extending the legs straight out, feet flexed, legs awake, and let the hands root outside of the hips or back a little if arms are longer than torso, just a few breaths here to let yourself feel the earth again, to let the whole body root, yeah, nice. From here, we'll begin to move into upavishta konasana, so extending the legs out wide. We want them wide enough that you feel the stretch through the inner thighs, but not so much that you're trembling or suffering, and you can always take support underneath the sit bones as high as feels good, yeah. From here, inhale, reach the arms out and up, and with the exhale, fold forward to your edge. This can look really different in really bodies, in really different bodies, so just take what serves.

You can come all the way to the earth, maybe rest forehead on the hands, you can take a block under the forehead or support under the arms, just experiment. Feel the opening through hamstring muscles, inner thigh muscles, releasing back into the earth, three, two, yeah. And then slowly, with the inhale, begin to walk the upper body back in and up. And exhale, let's just ground here for a moment. Then with the inhale, reach the arms out and up again.

And with the exhale, take the left fingertips outside of the left leg and let the right arm reach up and over, getting that beautiful stretch through the side body, yeah, as is. Or if you can find left big toes, take hold with right fingertips, no straining. See what's there. Heavy and rooted through that right sit bone, reaching up and away from that with right fingertips, yeah. Another breath or two.

Let your inhale draw you back to center. And then with the exhale, right fingertips outside of the right leg, left arm up and over, finding the edge, finding the sweet spot, staying here or deepening in, maybe finding the right big toes with the left hand, creating space and length and opening. One more breath, yeah. With the next inhale, draw yourself back to center line. And then with the exhale, just let the arms float back down.

It can be really nice to slide the hands under the thighs and kind of draw the legs in for this transition. Let the knees bend, plant the feet, and let's roll gently all the way down onto the back. All right, we're going to move into the restorative pose of your choice from here. So many sweet options. If you have a spacious wall near you, you might take legs up the wall.

If you'd like a modified version of that inversion, you can take block under sacrum and take the legs up from there, as Karen is demonstrating. Block can be at any height, just kind of find where it sits well on the sacrum. Or maybe a supta baddha konasana, as Betsy is beautifully demonstrating, support under the legs or under the back, really any restorative pose that feels good to you. And then when you find it, again, let the body relax into it. Really moving your awareness again through the whole body and noticing are there spots where we tend to hold unnecessarily, subtle bracing, and if possible, begin to soften and feel the weight of the body sinking into the earth so that any sense of effort can release.

Feel the support of props on the earth beneath you, yeah, and let the work of the practice begin to settle and integrate, allowing yourself this space, this time to just savor, absorb the many, many benefits of the practice. Yeah, a few more breaths here. Yeah, and then as you're ready transitioning into your final rest, shavasana, if you're in a restorative pose that feels really juicy and you're not ready to move, stay there. Maybe part of, maybe all of your shavasana. And when you are ready for that final rest, if you'd like support there, the bolster, the blanket under the knees again, or maybe covering the body with a blanket, maybe covering the eyes, again, we want to send this message to the nervous system that it's supported, that it's safe to let down, let go, relax.

So the physical body is well-structured, well-supported, which communicates to the subtle body, energy body, nervous system, then it can let down and let go as well and take whatever you need in this final shape, and then let the body sink into the receptive earth, laying it all down as much as possible. Whatever it is, at least for the time being, can we offer it up, can we let it go, and can we create a little space for new energy to come through? Let's take one last gentle breath together. So through the nose a big inhale, slight pause, open the mouth, exhale. Let it go.

And just rest. Okay. Thank you very much. Sustaining this as long as you like. As you're ready, just deepening the breath a little, bring some movement into the hands and the feet, and we'll transition into a comfortable seat in any way that feels good.

You might reach arms up and over, extend through fingers and toes, you might just rock gently to the side and pause there. Rock directly up, finding any comfortable seat that works in your body, supported if you'd like, and then rest the hands, softening the gaze or closing the eyes, and we'll take a few moments of stillness here, spine tall, shoulders soft. The breath is effortless, kind of allow your own natural rhythm of breath, and then let the awareness follow that, gently noticing each inhale and each exhale. Very simple, compassionate practice of awareness resting on breath, incredibly supportive, pushing for the nervous system, slowing down, dropping in, and being with your breath. And we'll take the hands to prayer at the heart center to close with a gentle om, and as we do, we offer any benefits of the practice up and out to all beings everywhere.

Exhale empty, through the nose a big inhale, om, gently inhaling, and a soft bow forward with the exhale, namaste. Thank you all so much for joining us, thank you yogis, namaste.

Teaching Note: Closing

Reconnect to Earth, settle, and integrate

In the closing section, we come back down to the earth and take some time in dandasana and upavishtakonasana to reconnect, to ground, to kind of feel the earth and our roots again, and then the restorative pose is this beautiful opportunity to savor and to settle, in addition of course to savasana, which allows us time to integrate the whole practice.