Allow

Welcome to this practice where we will move into a fluid, watery, kind of second chakra practice that is all about mindful movement and this principle, this mindfulness principle of allowing, of letting be. And we'll talk a little bit more about that as we go into the practice. So please join me seated, find a comfortable cross-leg seated position with either leg in front and just take a moment to ground, to land. So let your sitting bones come onto the earth, let your spine be long and if it feels okay, you can let your eyes soften and close, start to shift your gaze to the internal space, taking a moment to notice how you feel, recognize what you're showing up to your practice with, physically, emotionally, energetically and welcome it all, meeting yourself where you are today, starting from that place, allowing a big full breath in. In an easy breath out, let it go, good and then as you're ready on an inhale, sweep the arms all the way up over the ears and as you exhale, draw prayer in front of your heart center.

So just coming through center, maybe bow your hands towards your arms, your fingers. We'll do that a couple times as we link our breath to the movement, as you inhale, arms sweep up, maybe gaze up, as you exhale, draw hands to heart, beautiful. One more like that, inhale, arms lift, gaze lifts, exhale, hands to heart center, beautiful. And then from here, let's switch the crossing of the legs. So bring the opposite shin in front just to get into a little different sensation here.

You can let your hands rest on your knees and then start to move into some circles. So Sufi rolls as you inhale, we'll come forward as you exhale, round and come back. So when you're inhale, the chest reaches out and over the knees as you exhale, round, back. And you can take these circles as big or as small as it feels good for you. And if there's any point where it feels good to pause and linger, you might pause and linger.

Good. Maybe taking your circles in the opposite direction, it's kind of softening any rough edges. So noticing where you might be holding anything and you can start to smooth that out. So just allowing, allowing things to shift as they do. Good.

And then you can let your circles become a little bit smaller as you come back through center, take a moment to land and just notice where that all lands in the body. Beautiful. And then make your way to all fours. So we'll meet in the tabletop position. And as we come to tabletop, the same thing here, we'll start to move into some circles, barrel rolls as we just begin to open up the body.

So when you're ready, you can let your hips sink back towards your right heel and then bring them over towards the left heel and then as you inhale, we'll come forward. So getting into the wrist, the shoulders will come over the wrist and take some big circles in either direction and just kind of notice the wrist as you come forward, the hips and wherever else you feel this as you come back. So let it be smooth and then you could take circles in the other direction again, as we just find this fluid quality in this practice moving in a way that feels good to move. And this is always where we kind of hear the clicking in the joints as things start to open up. Again, if there's any place where it feels good to pause and linger for a few breaths, go for it.

And then let's land when you're ready in a wide leg child's pose. So bring the big toes and heels together, let your knees open up wide and just start to let your torso melt down between your legs and you can reach the arms forward. Maybe the forehead rests on the earth as we get into the hips in this practice. So as our spine and also the shoulders, just kind of let your shoulders relax, send your breath to the low back and the back body, breathing in, grounding breath out, beautiful. And then gently make your way back to all fours.

We'll tuck our toes and start to lift your hips up and back, coming into our first downward facing dog, beautiful. And as you come into down dog, you can start to move around, pedal it out through your feet, feel into the back of your legs. If your hamstrings are feeling a little tight, feel free to put a bend in your knees, or you could step your feet a little bit wider. That feels better for you. Maybe shake your head out, yes and no.

Just find any organic movement that allows you to eventually come toward stillness, finding one point to focus your gaze, your drishti, good, big, full breath in here and stay for your exhale, beautiful. And then on your next breath in, let's reach the right leg all the way up and back and put a bend in that right knee to open up through the right hip. Any movement that feels good here, you might roll out your foot in either direction, your ankle, maybe take some big circles with that right leg, feeling into that right hip, good. Keep pressing through both hands, let your shoulders stay level, beautiful. And then start to straighten out through the right leg, gaze between your thumbs, and then start to draw your right knee toward your right tricep, and then take a big step to the outside of your right hand.

So we'll come into lizard lunge. And as you come into this wider lunge, let your left knee come down to the earth and then just start to shift your weight back for a wide artha hana manasana. We'll fold over that front leg, lift the toes up off the earth. You might walk your hands forward, just start to stretch into the back of your right leg. Couple full deep breaths here, good, and you can let your spine be nice and long.

Notice where you feel this, good, allowing sensations to shift, move, beautiful. And then rebend through your right knee, come back to your lunge. We'll tuck the back toes, lift the back knee up, set up for a twist, left hand down under the left shoulder, reach your right arm up, opening the chest to the right side of your mat, beautiful. And then lower the right hand to the inside of your front foot, we'll walk to face the side of the mat, wide leg forward fold. So parallel your feet, walk your hands under your shoulders as you inhale, lengthen through your spine.

And then as you exhale, walk your hands back in towards you any amount, let the crown of your head melt down, just start to feel the opening through the back of your legs. Good, engaging your quads to lift up on your kneecaps, beautiful. And then walk your hands in front of you, come halfway up, inhale, and come back to the front of your mat. So find your runner's lunge, come onto the ball of your back foot, and then meet me in downward facing dog, step your right foot back to meet the left, beautiful. On an inhale, come forward into plank pose, meet me in the top of a push up, and then take a slow lower all the way to the belly.

So welcome to lower your knees or keep them lifted, hug your elbows in, come on to the belly, good. Take your hands wide, so fingertips on either side of your shoulders, your hands can come just off your mat. We'll take a wide cobra, so press into the tops of the feet and start to peel your chest up off the earth, any amount, big full breath in, heart lifts, good. And then as you exhale, gently lower back down, bring your hands next to the side ribs, and press back to downward facing dog, beautiful. Moving to the left side, inhale, sweep your left leg up, put a bend in your left knee to open up through that left side, and then maybe match what you did on the first side, so you can roll out your foot, your ankle a few times, and take some circles with that left leg, feeling into the left side, noticing if this side feels a little different.

Keep pressing through both hands, then straighten out through the left leg, gaze forward, tap your left knee towards your left tricep or elbow, and then big step to the outside of your left wrist as you come into that wide lunge. On the second side, come up onto your fingertips, let your right knee come down to the earth. Big breath in as the heart lifts, as you sink into your legs a bit, feel the psoas, good. And then Ardha Hanamanasana, shift your weight back, hamstring stretch, lift the left toes up off the earth, and then just fold over that front leg, maybe walk your hands forward. Notice the sensations as it may shift and transform, good, and then we'll come back into that wide lunge, tuck your back toes, lift the back knee, plant your right hand down and then we'll twist, reach your left arm up, opening up towards the left side of the mat, twisting from the navel up, good.

As you lower your left hand to the inside of your front foot, walk to face the side of your mat, wide leg forward fold as you inhale, hands come under the shoulders, exhale, walk your hands in any amount, and just take a moment to let everything melt down, let it feel good, breathing in, sweet release on the exhale, beautiful, and then we'll walk hands back under the shoulders, lengthen, come back to the front of your mat, and step back to down dog, plant your palms, step your left foot to meet the right, inhale, glide forward into plank pose, exhale, slow lower to the belly, hug the elbows in, good, untuck your toes, bring your hands on either side of the mat, again we'll take that wide arm cobra as we peel the chest up, press into the tops of the feet, big breath in, beautiful, as you exhale, press back to downward facing dog, very nice, and then as you inhale rise high up onto toes, big bend in the knees and either hop your feet into malasana or you can step your feet to the outside of your wrists, so wide stance, toes out heels in, bend your knees, and just start to let your hips sink down, and draw your hands to your heart here, or you could keep hands on earth if that feels better for you, just take a moment to pause in yogi squat, let your spine be nice and long, as you let the tailbone melt down, reach up through the crown of your head, beautiful, and then interlacing everything but the index fingers, finding steeple mudra, we'll lift up out of here as we straighten through the legs, press through the heels, reach the arms up, good, and then as you get to the top, can parallel your feet and start to tilt up and over to the right side, so take a nice side body stretch, you might gaze up under that left arm, good, and then as you inhale we'll come back through center, let your left foot get heavy, you can tilt up over to the left, let the right foot ground, and then maybe gaze up under your right arm, big breath in, beautiful, and as you come back through center, we'll come back to malasana, so toes out, heels in slightly, bend your knees, come right back into yogi squat, good, and then hands down to the earth, parallel your feet, start to straighten your legs, forward fold, let everything melt down over your legs, good, and then from here we'll just simply step back to down dog, stepping your feet back, grounding through the hands, nice, and then inhale right leg lifts, big breath in, three leg dog, draw your right knee towards your nose, gaze between your thumbs, we'll take a big step through between the hands, good, and then let your left knee lower down as we come into low lunge, let your right knee come right over the right ankle, and then start by just walking your hands up onto the right thigh as you sink down into the legs, good, and then once you find that solid foundation, you're welcome to stay right here, or start to reach your arms up, we'll come into a shoulder stretch from here, so we'll bend the left elbow, pat yourself on the back with your left hand, and then you can bring your right hand towards your left elbow as you hug the upper arm in towards your left ear, and then maybe allow yourself to lean back a little bit into the arms, and just notice where you feel this, good, and as you inhale release your arms back up toward the sky, exhale, draw hands on either side of your front foot, hamstring stretch, shift your weight back, artha, hanamanasana, just a couple breaths here, good, and then rebend through your right knee, step back, downward facing dog, on an inhale maybe come forward into plank pose, lower all the way to the belly, if you want to stay with taking the arms wide, we'll tent our fingertips on either side of the shoulders, peel your chest up, feel that opening, heart lifts, beautiful as you exhale press back, downward facing dog, good, left leg lifts as you're ready, three leg dog, inhale, exhale gaze forward, step your left foot through between your hands, let the right knee lower down to the earth, set up with that left knee over your ankle, and then once you have that foundation start to walk your hands up onto your left thigh, and just take a moment to establish that connection, sink in, breathe, good, and then once you have that you can reach the arms up, this time we'll bend the right arm, pat yourself on the back, you can take your left hand to the right elbow and hug the upper arm in, maybe lean back a little bit, and that nice stretch in the upper arm, the shoulder, good, and then reach your arms up toward the sky, inhale, exhale hands, frame your front foot, shift your weight back, aradhana manasana, half split, good, re-bend through your left knee, step back down dog, left foot meets the right, as you inhale plank, exhale lower to the belly, take your hands wide, wide cobra, inhale, peel the chest up, exhale, meet me back, in down dog, good, big breath in, clear that round, sigh it out, let it go, beautiful, coming back to the right side, inhale right leg lifts, three leg dog, exhale, knee to nose, step all the way through, this time we'll stay on the ball of the back foot, so you might step your left foot to the left a little to widen your stance, and then again once you have that solid foundation, you can reach your arms up, take a moment to sink into crescent pose, so let your back knee soften a little bit, let your tailbone melt down, good, and then we'll put a bend in the left elbow, same thing with the arms, bring your right hand to your left elbow, hug the upper arm in, as you sink a little deeper into the legs, and feel that opening in the heart space, your chest, you might even lean back a little bit, beautiful, and this time as you open your arms wide, we'll open it up into warrior two, so might need to adjust the stance with your feet a little, front heel aligned with the center of the back arch, arms open up wide as you reach through the fingertips, bending toward 90 degrees and that front leg, good, and again let your shoulders soften, so find some movement within the stillness, you might come in and out of it a few times, that fluid quality, beautiful, and on your next breath in, we'll straighten the front leg, parallel the feet to face the side of the mat, sweep your arms up, big breath in, gaze up, and then toes out, heels in for goddess stance, eagle arms, so sweep your right arm under your left and wrap it up, good, as you bend your knees, you can draw the elbows up away from you, inhale, as you exhale, sink in a little deeper, bend the knees deeply, let your knees come over the ankles here, good, and then parallel your feet, sweep your arms back up, gaze up, flying warrior, as you exhale, bring your hands behind your back, catch and interlace if that feels okay, you're welcome to hold opposite elbows, if you have a strap, you might also have a strap between your hands, otherwise draw shoulders back, we'll get into the shoulders a bit here, and as you exhale, come into wide leg, forward fold, prasarita with that interlace, crown of the head melt down, couple breaths, beautiful, so let your inhale bring you all the way back up to stand, you can let your arms draw behind you, keep that interlace, and then let that go, come back to warrior two, so turn your right toes toward the front of the mat, arms open wide, and then we'll flip the front palm, tilt back, reverse warrior, exhale circle hands to the earth, step back maybe right to plank pose this time, move through vinyasa halfway or all the way down, maybe stay with that wide cobra, tenting fingertips, peel the chest up, inhale, good, exhale, downward facing dog, take a moment to land, and breathe, if it feels good you can keep with that movement, noticing how things may shift here, and maybe checking in with this is welcome, this too, whatever sensation arises, allow it to exist, good, left side as you're ready, inhale, left leg lifts, exhale, knee to nose, take a big step through between your hands, and as we set up for high lunge, maybe step your right toes to the right a little, widen your stance, find that solid base, come up to crescent pose, arms sweep up, take a moment to sink in, and again you can let that back knee soften a little so that the tailbone melts down, and then we'll put a bend in the right elbow this time, take your left hand towards your right elbow, hug it in, and then once you have the arms you might sink in a little deeper, maybe lean back, feel the heart lift, good, that expansion in the front body, inhale, good, and then let your exhale open you up to warrior two, good, bending through that front knee, and also finding your awareness to the back leg, so seal the outer edge of your back foot down, reach forward and back through your fingertips, centering your weight, beautiful, and then from here we'll parallel the feet, flying warrior, sweep your arms up, take your gaze up, as you come into goddess this time we'll sweep the left arm under the right, turn your toes out, heels in, bend your knees deeply, on an inhale draw the elbows away from you, and as you exhale you can sink in a little deeper, good, so feel the opening in the back of your shoulders, shoulder blades, beautiful, and then come on out of there we'll sweep the arms up parallel your feet, this time as you bring your hands behind your back you might catch that interlace with the opposite thumb on top, you might take reverse prayer behind your back, if that's not accessible find what works for you as you inhale feel the length heart lifts and then with the long spine we'll exhale to come into fold let everything release, a couple breaths here keep lifting up on your kneecaps, seal the outer edges of the feet down, good, and then keeping the arms if that's accessible on an inhale long spine press through the soles of the feet, come all the way back up to stand, and then as you come up we'll turn the left toes toward the front of the mat release the arms, warrior two, flip your front palm tilt back reverse warrior feel the length in the left side body, good, and then circle hands to the earth maybe right back to plank pose, moving through vinyasa lower halfway or all the way down you can stay with cobra maybe come to upward facing dog, nice, and then we'll land in down dog, take a moment here as you breathe in and breathe out let it go good let's bring the feet together at the back of the mat on an inhale glide forward to plank pose top of a push-up and then slowly lower all the way to the belly so hug your elbows in as you come onto your belly bring your chin to the earth and reach your arms back actively it's going to move into some rolling shalabhasanas here so with the breath as you inhale lift up through the shoulders and the chest actively reach the arms back maybe add your legs and we'll just take one breath in as we lift and then one breath out as you exhale good and then inhale to lift everything up let it be fluid exhale to release go one more like that as you inhale this time we'll pause up at the top heart lifts let the back of the neck be long so think about lengthening through the spine through the crown of the head back through the toes hold for five four three two and then let that go let everything release maybe sway your hips side to side good and then just to open the back body we'll press back into child's pose so let your hips sink back towards your heels a couple full deep breaths here so you kind of notice the opening in the low back feel that expansion nice and then take your time let's meet back in downward facing dog so tucking the toes lifting the hips up and back and breathing here so from down dog let's reach the right leg up and back take a moment to bend that right knee again open up through the right hip now you can stay here or if you want to flip your dog start to shift your weight forward let the shoulders come over the your wrists and then you can step the right toes behind you so bring the weight into your left hand you reach that right arm up and over your ear feel the lift in the heart space good and then as you come out of here we'll unravel back to three leg dog so reach the right leg up right hand comes down and then that wide lunge again so draw your right knee towards your right tricep and take a big step to the outside of your right wrist we'll set up for a variation of lizard so let your left knee lower down to the earth palms of the hands on the inside of your front foot now you could stay right here if you want to come into a quad stretch we'll start to bend through that left knee roll to the front of the kneecap if possible and then maybe reach your right hand back find your foot and you can kick your foot into your hand as you start to let your chest expand open toward the side of the mat and maybe take a gaze over that right shoulder if this is too intense just stay here with the hands down good and then breathe breathe into wherever you feel this soften any rough edges as you allow the breath to start to open up through those spaces finding a little spaciousness a little ease here beautiful and then gently you can release that so bring the right hand back to the inside of your front foot we'll tuck the back toes lift the back knee and then step it back to downward facing dog good big breath in exhale to release beautiful and then the left leg will lift as you're ready go ahead and bend your left knee to open up through that left side you could stay right here if you're flipping your dog again shift the weight forward first and then step the left toes behind you bringing the weight into the right hand and reach that left arm up and over your ear feel the lift in the heart space good and then as we unravel we'll come back to three leg dog left hand down left leg lifts start to draw your left knee towards your left tricep big step to the outside of your left wrist setting up for lizard let your right knee lower down to the earth palms of the hands down again you can stay right here this might feel like enough if you're coming into the quad stretch start to bend through the right knee reach back with your left hand maybe find your foot and then you can kick your foot into your hand as the chest and heart starts to expand open toward the left side of your mat and if possible you'll try to roll to the front of the right kneecap so you're not right on the bone maybe lean back a little bit so lots of variations here find the one that works for you today meet yourself there kindness breathe into the sensations as they shift and then go ahead and release that bring your left hand to the inside of your front foot and we'll step back to downward facing dog if you want one more vinyasa you might clear that here as you come forward to plank lower halfway or all the way down maybe that wide arm cobra as you peel your chest up big breath in like a wave and then exhale back to downward facing dog good so from down dog we'll come to seated at the front of the mat you might play with hopping your feet forward bend your knees cross at your ankles and then bring the legs back to the front of the ankles and then bring the legs out in front of you and then we'll move into a seated hip opener here so coming toward gomukhasana i'm going to bend my right knee and stack it on top of the left knee and then draw my heels in toward me now this is not accessible for everyone so if that's the case for sure you can bring one shin in front of the other and come into seated so sukhasana if that feels a little more accessible for you today that would be a wonderful hip opener so otherwise as the knees are stacked and you wiggle in let your sitting bones land on the earth you can draw the heels in towards you now as we get into the shoulders you may want to have a strap nearby and i'll demo that as we get there so same arms that we did in our lunge so with the right leg on top we'll start to bend the left elbow take your right hand to your left elbow you can pat yourself on the back with that left hand and you might stay right here this might feel like enough as you hug the upper arm in if you want to come into full gomukhasana arms and you might do this with the strap we'll reach the right arm out to the right flip the palm to face the wall behind you and then bend the right elbow as you reach for the fingertips or again maybe you take that strap between your hands so i'm just going to unravel this a little bit and use the strap in both hands and that will just kind of find a little space here and as you find that bind or the holding of the strap or you can hold onto your shirt you can keep the length in your spine maybe you start to bow forward good and then keep your sitting bones rooted and connected a couple full deep breaths here without judgment without trying to push anything away we're just in that space of allowing of letting be honoring where you're at and starting from there beautiful on an inhale slowly come on back up and release your arms slowly that can feel a little rough in the shoulders and then as you come out of there just take a moment can uncross the legs maybe bring the legs out in front of you and shake them out or just take a moment to pause and notice where that lands in the body and then we'll make our transition to the second side so bringing the left knee on top of the right or the left shin in front and then start to draw the heels in towards you you're finding sukhasana if that feels more accessible today if you're coming into gomukhasana just let your sitting bones land on the earth maybe wiggle in a little bit good and then we'll bend the right elbow take left hand to right elbow you could stay right here hugging and then we'll bend the upper arm in good or if you're coming into the full version you'll reach your left arm out to the side flip the palm to face the wall behind you and then bend your left elbow if they're using a strap between your hands you might find your fingertips maybe hold on to your shirt good you can stay upright or gently you can start to tilt forward that will deepen the stretch pretty much everywhere the hips shoulders gazing out in front of your knees keep a nice long spine long breath nice and then on your next breath in slowly come on out of there gently release your arms maybe shake them out let that go you might bring the legs out in front of you and shake them out and we'll meet there with the legs reaching straight in front of us as we set up for a wide forward fold so bring the soles of the feet together let your knees go wide fabada canasana you can hold on to your ankles or your feet as you lengthen through the spine take a big full breath in as you exhale bow forward so you could tuck your chin maybe round a bit as you let the crown of the head melt down towards your toes nice hip opener couple breaths gently you could press your elbows into the inner thighs good on your next breath in slowly come on back up and then we'll stretch legs long in front of us flex through the feet set up nice and high on your sitting bones as you inhale sweep the arms up and as you exhale forward fold pashimoto tenasana just letting everything release over your legs let your hands fall wherever they fall couple full deep breaths here breathing into wherever you feel the sensations and watching as sensations begin to shift to transform good now you can stay in this forward folder if it would feel good we'll bring the legs up and over our head as we come into plow pose so as you come into plow you could press the palms of the hands to the earth you might interlace getting upside down for a little bit and feel the movement here breath good and then gently we'll roll out of that let's meet on our backs hugging the knees into the chest and just start to rock a little side to side massage through your lower back back maybe take your knees in circles in either direction just feel the sensations here beautiful and as we move into a spinal twist let the soles of the feet find the earth for a moment then we'll come into eagle twist so cross your left knee on top of the right similar to how we did in gomukhasana now you're welcome to hook that right foot behind your left calf or just float it open let's cactus the arms on either side of the shoulders and then maybe scoot your hips to the right a little as you let your knees drop to the left and you can gaze straight up or if it feels okay in the neck go ahead and take your gaze over your right shoulder so ringing it out here and if eagle twist is too much of a pull on the lower back which it certainly can be you can always just stack your knees and take a twist there breathing in breathing out to release to let go letting the exhale be that letting go that release that allowing this to beautiful and then gently unravel as you come back through center bring the soles of the feet to the earth and then lift your hips just for a moment place them back down to neutralize through your spine good and then we'll pick up the left foot cross the left knee on top of the right like you're sitting in a chair you might hook that left foot behind the right calf good and then scoot your hips to the left a little cactus the arms let both knees drop to the right and then maybe take a gaze over that left shoulder allowing a few cleansing breaths here you might allow the breath to match the sound of a wave the ocean ujjayi notice what may need to release here as you gently let go of anything you might be holding that you no longer need bring it out and then gently we'll unravel as you come back through center again bring the soles of the feet to the earth lift your hips and place them back down to neutralize through the spine good taking a moment to bring the soles of the feet together let your knees go wide for recline bada konasana souped about a konasana maybe bring one hand to your heart and one hand to your belly if it feels comfortable let your eyes soften and close let your gaze turn inward and as we scan through the body notice any shifts from when we first began that all things shift that all things transform like the waves in the ocean just watching it pass and you're welcome to stay right here or maybe start to slide both legs long on your mat as we come in toward our final shape of shavasana letting the legs go long can relax your feet open like books and your legs soften belly softens arms on either side of the body palms facing up shoulders relaxed maybe let your eyes soften and close as you take a moment here to let go to let be just rest as you begin to allow your breath to deepen start to bring your awareness to just the sounds around you both near and far maybe reaching for the furthest sound bring the awareness to the sound of your breath the feeling of the breath entering where does the breath enter and where does it go when it leaves the body gently wiggle your toes move your fingers inviting any organic movement back to the body maybe reaching your arms up over your ears go full body stretch big breath in long full breath out good hug your knees into your chest if it feels okay start to rock up and down along the length of your spine maybe a couple times as you make your way to seated we'll meet in a comfortable seated position and close your eyes for a moment bringing one hand to heart one hand to belly bow in towards yourself and again just noticing any shifts from when we first began notice how you feel allow it all thank you so much for sharing this practice with me if you have a beautiful rest of your day namaste