Surrender

Welcome, and thank you for joining me for this practice that is all about the quality of surrendering. So we will move into a more calming, slower flow practice to start and then finish with some held stretches to really tune into that letting go surrender quality. So let's begin in child's pose if you'll meet me there. As we come to child's pose, we'll bring the big toes and heels together. If it feels okay, let your knees open up a little wider.

And then as you reach your arms forward, you can let your torso just kind of drape down between the legs. Let your forehead rest on the earth and just take a moment to arrive, maybe close your eyes, allowing the gaze to shift to the internal space, to the here and the now. Letting go of anything that may have come prior to your practice, anything you may have after you practice, and just dedicate this next 45 minutes or so to being here on your mat, to being present with your breath, and to surrendering to what is in the here and the now. Allow a big breath in, feel the expansion through your back body. And then like you're fogging a mirror, open up the mouth, sigh something out, let it go.

Good, a big full breath in. Now let something go, really taking this time to focus on the exhale, that release, big breath in, long, full release on your exhale, beautiful, and start to tune in to how you're feeling, how the body feels, maybe scanning through your body. Notice the temperature of your space, any sounds that surround you, there's definitely a cricket happening here in OY, any sounds in the space that you're in or perhaps outside. Come back to your breath, and then start to walk your hands forward so that the elbows lift up off the earth, tent your fingertips, and gently start to walk your hands over to the right side, and you might even pick up the torso and drape it on top of that left thigh. Let a little weight shift towards your left hip and breathe into the left side body.

Full deep breaths as you feel the expansion across the side body and all those little spaces between the ribs, beautiful, and then coming back through center, we'll walk the hands over to the left, this time maybe pick up your torso, drape it on top of the left thigh, reach the right arm, forward to the side, and start to breathe into the right side body, maybe let a little weight shift towards your right hip, noticing if this side feels a little different, beautiful, and then gently come back through center, just start to round and roll up to sit back on your heels so you can let your knees come together, find a seat on your heels, if it doesn't feel good to sit back on your heels, you're welcome to take a block in between your ankles, that might feel a little better to just lift the floor up to meet you a little bit, and then we'll come to eagle arms, so let your right arm come under your left arm, either bringing backs of hands together or you could bring palms together, on an inhale draw the elbows up and away from you, maybe lift your gaze, and then as you exhale draw the elbows in towards you, tuck your chin and round in your spine, good, and we'll do that a couple times with the breath, allow the inhale to bring you up, lengthening, lifting, exhale round, elbows draw in, tuck the chin, open the back body, one more inhale, draw the elbows away, lift up and lengthen, exhale elbows draw in, tuck your chin and round, good, and then release that, come back through center, take your hands behind you, tent your fingertips and just gently start to lift the heart and the chest, maybe gaze up and you might start to lift your hips up off your heels or the block, good, and then gently place them back down, rest your hands on your thighs for a moment and notice, and then we'll take that to the other side, so let your left arm come under the right, eagle wrap with your arms, on an inhale draw the elbows up and away, lift the heart and the gaze, as you exhale draw the elbows in, tuck your chin, rounding, good, two more, inhale elbows draw up, gaze lifts, exhale elbows in, round, feel the opening in the back body, go one more inhale, lift up and lengthen, exhale elbows draw in, round, beautiful, and then unravel, come out of there, bring your fingertips back behind you again, as you lift the heart, you might start to lift your hips, opening up through the chest, the heart space, big breath in and then exhale, let that go, hips come back down, if you have the block, you can remove it, take it to the side of your mat and then let's come to tabletop, so as we make our way to all fours, let your shoulders come over the wrists, hips come over the knees, just move into a couple cat-cows, inhale arching, heart lifts, gaze lifts, exhale press the floor away and round into cat, good, inhale come to cow pose, arching, heart and gaze lifts, exhale navel to spine, press the floor away and round, go one more like that, inhale front body opens into cow, back body opens as you exhale, press the floor away, cat pose, good, and then neutralize, so come to that place between cat and cow, tabletop, and then reach your left leg back and tuck your toes, so they're on the earth, start to shift your weight forward and back a few times, so you're feeling into the back of your left leg, specifically the calf muscle, good, and then come on out of there, let your shoulders come over your wrists, spin onto your left heel, you can keep the right leg as it is or you can start to kickstand that shin back, that might feel a little more stable, bring the weight into your right hand, reach your left arm up and then maybe take your left arm over your ear, feel that side body stretch, and you might take some circles with that left arm in one direction, and then the other direction, just finding a little bit of release in your shoulder, good, and then as you come back through center, let your left knee come down, thread your left arm under your right arm, come onto your left shoulder and the left side of the face, so you can let your hips stay level, walk your right hand forward, or maybe take that right arm up and behind your back for a wrap, do what feels good here, notice what you need, breathe into whatever sensations arise, couple breaths, invitation if you'd like to, close your eyes for most of this practice, you might do that, let it be a work in, an internal versus a workout, good, take your time, press through your right hand, come back to tabletop, left hand finds the earth, just take one cat cow, let go of that side, inhale, heart lifts, exhale, navel to spine, round, good, and then neutralize, come to tabletop, this time we'll reach the right leg back, tuck your toes and start to shift your weight forward and back a few times, stretch into the back of your right leg if it feels good to kind of pause, as you press back, go for it, good, and then let your shoulders come over your wrists, spin the right heel down, weight into your left hand, sweep the right arm up, maybe take it over your ear, and then maybe some circles in one direction, feel into that right shoulder, and then the other direction, feel into that, beautiful, and then as you come out of there, the right knee comes down, thread your right arm under your left, come on to the right shoulder in the right side of your face, maybe walk your left hand forward, or go ahead and take it behind your back, wrap it up, and then yield into the support beneath you, so let your body feel held, breathe, again noticing if this side feels a little different, good, and then take your time, press through your left hand, your right hand, I'll take one cat cow, as you inhale, heart lifts, as you exhale, press the floor away and round, and then meet me in down dog, we'll tuck the toes, lift the hips up and back, take a moment as you come to this first down dog to land, pedal it out, just really feel into the back body, the back of your legs, beautiful, and then as you're ready, let the knees come down to the earth, come back into child's pose, let your hips sink back towards your heels, on an inhale come back up to all fours, tabletop, tuck your toes, lift the hips up and back, down dog, and we'll do that a couple times, so lowering the knees, hips to heels child's pose, inhale round up into tabletop, tuck your toes downward facing dog, good, one more, come high up onto toes, lower the knees, child's pose, good, inhale all fours, tuck your toes, lift the hips up and back, down dog, beautiful, and then take your time to slowly walk your feet to the front of your mat, land in a forward fold, maybe take opposite elbows as you let everything melt down, you can shift a little weight toward the balls of your feet, feel free to keep as much of a bend in the knees as needed, in fact I would encourage it, just let everything soften, forward fold certainly call in that quality of surrendering, calming the nervous system, releasing tension, take the opposite arm on top if you're holding opposite elbows, good, and then let hands come down toward the earth, we'll take a slow roll, one vertebra at a time, come to stand at the front of the mat, take a moment, whatever you need here, and eventually we'll meet in stillness, draw your hands to your heart, so we'll move into some slow moon salutations, just this grounded slow quality as we flow just a little bit, so with the breath inhale arms sweep up, lengthen through your spine, maybe take hold of your left wrist and tilt up and over to the right side, side body stretch, good, inhale center, hold your right wrist, reach up and over to the left, good, and then as you come back through center dive forward, maybe draw prayer in front of the heart, forward fold, good, step your left foot to the back of the mat, let your left knee lower down to the ground and come up onto your fingertips, so lift the heart here, low lunge, good, and then step back to down dog, right foot will meet the left, good, and then maybe lower your knees down to the earth and then the chin and the chest, so hug the elbows in, keep the hips lifted, and then slide through into cobra pose, draw shoulders back, lift the heart, press into the tops of your feet, good, and then coming back through tabletop, tuck your toes, lift your hips up and back, downward facing dog, float your left leg up, take a moment to bend your knee, open up through that left side, maybe roll out your foot a few times, your ankle, maybe some big circles with that left knee, good, and then we'll straighten through the left leg, gaze forward, step your left foot through between your hands, let the right knee lower, come onto your fingertips, same thing here, just find that nice low lunge, heart lifts, good, this time tuck your right toes, step your right foot to meet your left, come to forward fold, front of the mat, good, root down to rise, arms sweep out and up, as you exhale, draw hands through your heart center, beautiful, and then we'll come to the other side, inhale, arms sweep up, you take a hold of the right wrist, tilt up and over to the left, inhale center, hold the left wrist, tilt up and over to the right, good, inhale center, forward fold, draw a prayer in front of your heart, uttanasana, and then step your right foot to the back of the mat this time, come onto the fingertips, let the right knee lower, heart lifts, big breath in, exhale, downward facing dog, plant your palms, step your left foot back to meet the right, and then lower the knees, hug the elbows in, lower the chin and the chest, stay low as you come into bhujangasana, cobra pose, inhale, exhale, press back, table, and downward facing dog, tuck the toes, lift your hips up and back, right leg lifts this time, bend the right knee, open up through that right side, maybe roll out your foot and your ankle, maybe your knee, good, and then we'll straighten the right leg, gaze forward, step through between your hands, good, come onto the fingertips, let your left knee lower down, heart lifts, big breath in, and then step your left foot to meet the right, forward fold, front of the mat, good, root down to rise, arms sweep out and up, as you exhale, draw your hands back to your heart, good, inhale, arms sweep up, exhale, come all the way into your forward fold here, on an inhale we'll lift halfway, lengthen through the spine, and then step back to downward facing dog, we'll meet there, taking three to five full deep breaths as you hold down dog, finding one point to focus your gaze, your drishti, and breathe, track your inhale, your exhale, breathe in, breathe out, beautiful, let's reach the right leg up and back, again take a moment to bend the knee, open the hip, you might come up onto your right fingertips, really feel that stretch in the side body, the side waist, the hip, and then flatten out the right hand, draw your right knee to your right tricep and take a big step to the outside of your right wrist, so we're in this wide lizard lunge, good, from there start to straighten out through that right leg, so press back through your left heel, and then straighten the right leg any amount, as we come into kind of this wider leg pyramid pose stretch here, should feel good in the back of your legs, nice, and then rebend through your right knee, let your left knee come down to the earth, and then we'll take a twist by planting the left hand under the left shoulder, reach your right arm up, you can gaze up towards your fingertips, beautiful, and then lower the right hand to the inside of your front foot, tuck your back toes, lift the back knee up, and then walk to face the side of your mat, so we'll start by paralleling the feet, and you might step that right foot up a little, and then move into Skandhasana, so turn your left toes toward the left corner of your mat, bend your left knee so the left knee is tracking over the left ankle, and then you decide where you come to here, you can stay with the shoulders in line with the hips if you want to go a little deeper, maybe you lift your right toes up, and that left heel might lift, and we're just feeling into mostly that left hip, and feel some stretch in the right leg, and let's just hold here for a couple breaths, and you might take your left hand to the outside of your left shin, reach your right arm up, and gaze up at your right fingertips, beautiful, and then when you're ready, start to straighten out the legs, parallel the feet, we'll come into wide leg, forward fold, prosaureta, on an inhale lift halfway, as you exhale, walk your hands back in towards you, you can let the crown of the head melt down, bend your elbows, you might take a block under your forehead or under the crown of your head for support, maybe the crown of your head comes down to the earth, and hold there and breathe, let's take three to five breaths, wherever you are, keep engaging your quadriceps to lift up on your kneecaps, seal the outer edges of the feet down, beautiful, and then we'll gently walk the hands under the shoulders, come halfway up, and then walk it back to the front of your mat, as you come into the front of the mat, we'll let the left knee lower to the earth, and then shift the weight back for half split, hamstring stretch, arda hanumanasana, maybe slide that right heel forward a little bit, you can soften through the right knee, and just breathe into the back of your right leg, couple breaths, nice, and then take your time, rebend through the right leg, the right knee, step back to downward facing dog, right foot meets the left, good, and then from here come forward to plank, lower all the way to the belly, you might lower your knees down as you lower, good, and then as you lower down to the belly, take your hands on either side of your mat, tent your fingertips and let your elbows point up toward the sky, coming into wide arm, cobra, start to peel your chest up off the earth, so you press into the tops of your feet, good, and then let your right shoulder come toward the center of your mat, and take a gaze toward your left shoulder, a little shoulder stretch, as you inhale come through center, peel the chest up, as you exhale left shoulder melts down, take a gaze to the right, beautiful, as you inhale back through center heart lifts, and exhale surrender, let that go, press back through hands and knees, tuck your toes, lift the hips up, down dog, couple breaths, letting go of that side, breathe in, breathe out, and then as you're ready inhale, left leg will lift, bend your knee, open up through that left side, maybe come up onto your left fingertips and just really feel that side body stretch, good, and then planting your left hand down, straighten your left leg, draw your left knee toward your left tricep and then big step to the outside of your left wrist, good, come up onto fingertips, lengthen in lizard lunge, and then we press back through the right heel, work to straighten the left leg any amount, and let everything melt down over that front leg, so feel that stretch as you press back through the right heel actively, torso draping down, breathe, and then we bend through your left knee, right knee lowers, we'll find our twist, right hand down under the right shoulder, sweep your left arm up, open the chest to the left, beautiful, and then lower your left hand to the inside of your front foot, tuck your back toes, lift the knee, walk to face the side of your mat, skandasana to start, so we'll turn the right toes toward the corner of the mat, bend your right knee, kick in, maybe matching what you did on that first side, or this side might feel completely different and you could do something completely different here, and if you want that twist, we'll bring right fingertips to the outside of the right leg, and reach your left arm up and just start to open up through the heart space, maybe gaze lifts, couple breaths, beautiful, and then as you're ready, press off that right leg, come through center, prasarita, parallel your feet, straighten out through the legs, hands under, shoulders on an inhale, as you exhale, walk your hands back, any amount, you might walk your hands underneath your legs, point your fingers toward the wall behind you, and then maybe a block under your head or you can rest the crown of the head down, flip your perspective, notice what's behind you, and breathe, and breathe in some fresh air, you can smell the orange blossoms here, so lovely, nice, and then take your time, we'll walk hands forward, head halfway, lengthen, come back to the front of your mat, let your right knee lower down to the earth, and then shift your weight back, hamstring stretch, arda, hanuman, fold over your front leg, maybe slide that left heel forward a little bit, just breathe into whatever sensations arise, as you're ready, we'll re-bend through that left knee, and step back to downward facing dog, come forward to plank pose, inhale, slow lower to the belly, take your hands wide, tent your fingertips, inhale, peel the chest up, this time left shoulder melts toward the center of the mat, gaze to the right, on an inhale back through center, exhale, right shoulder melts gaze to the left, beautiful, inhale center, exhale hands next to side body, press back through all fours, downward facing dog, tuck your toes, lift the hips up and back, and then take a slow walk to the front of your mat again, take your feet as wide as your mat, toes out, heels in, and then bend your knees, yogi squat, malasana, now if you do have a block, maybe slide the block under your sacrum, which can feel really nice and supported, and then just take a moment to land here, let your spine be long, feel the length through your tailbone, up through the crown of your head, taking a moment here to surrender to what is, letting go of what was, having faith in what is to become, build a heart beating in your chest, beautiful, and then draw your hands to the earth, parallel your feet to straighten your legs, forward fold, take a slow roll, one vertebra at a time as you come to stand, and we'll just take a couple neck stretches, so I'm going to face you for a moment, and as you come to stand, let's bring the right hand toward the left ear and gently draw the right ear toward your right shoulder, maybe nod your head yes, just get into any areas that might feel a little tense or tight, feel free to pause anywhere, without force, just a gentle drawing down, and then go ahead and come back through center, we'll take that to the other side, left hand, right ear, draw the left ear toward the left shoulder, maybe nod your head yes, beautiful, and then gently come back, let that go, we'll come back to malasana for a moment, so step your feet wide, toes out heels in, bend your knees, yogi squat, good, and then step back to down dog, hands to the earth, downward facing dog, let's get into some held postures, get into the hips a little on an inhale, reach your right leg up, as you exhale, step your right foot to the outside of your right wrist, coming toward lizard, we'll let the left knee lower down, so you can stay up on the palms of your hands, or if it feels okay, maybe bring your forearms down and you might take a block under your forearms, so see what feels right for you today, honor that, and we'll hold here for five full deep breaths, noticing where you feel this, and yoga begins with listening, so take a moment to listen inward, beautiful, and then taking your time, we'll come up onto the hands, can take your block out to the side if you have it, and then gently start to heel toe your right foot toward the left side of your mat and come into pigeon pose, so we'll let the left shin come behind the wrists, let the right hip, or excuse me, right shin come behind the wrists, let the right hip lower, and then take your time, you can walk your hands in front of you, and you might have a block or a blanket under that right hip if that feels good, and let's take a moment, these poses really about surrendering to what is, allow yourself to release into the fold, waiting for that invitation to go a little deeper, without force, find your edge, and letting go quality of the exhale, and then take your time, come up out of there, walk your hands in toward you, and just let a little weight shift toward your right hip, bring your left leg in front of you, and then bring your right foot to the inner upper left thigh so that the right knee is opening wide, sit up high on your sitting bones, reach your arms up, big breath in, and then fold over that left leg, so maybe your hands find your foot, your ankle, your shin, wherever it lands, just take a moment to fold, Janu Sarsasana, notice as we hold these postures a little longer that things naturally begin to shift, to transform, gently make your way back up, we'll come back to down dog, so cross your ankles, reach your hands forward, simply step the feet back, couple breaths there, maybe pedal it out, nice as you're ready, lift your left leg, step your left foot to the outside of your left wrist, come into lizard lunge, you can let your right knee lower down to the earth, and I'm going to slide a block under my forearms, you could stay on the palms of your hands, maybe forearms lower to a block or the earth, just take your time as you come into your expression of the pose, beautiful thing about all these postures is there are as many lizard poses as there are people doing lizard pose, just honoring where you are at any moment, notice your breath, as you start to find stillness and quiet the mind, might become a little bit more aware of all that's happening around you, sounds, temperature, smells, tuning into your senses, take your time to come on out of there, we'll press back up onto the hands, if you have a block, you could take it out to the side, and then heel toe left foot to the right side of the mat, coming into pigeon, let the left shin lower, just take a moment to wiggle in, settle any props that you may need, and then surrender into the fold as you're ready, noticing the difference on this side, one hip not surely will be a little more open than the other, where might you be holding, you can soften and release a little more, couple more breaths, and then gently make your way back up, we'll take the weight to the left hip, bring your right leg out in front of you, bring your left foot to the inner upper right side, stretch your right leg long, flex through the right foot, sit up high on your sitting bones, wiggle in, reach the arms up, big breath in, and then fold over that front leg, let your hands fall wherever they fall, jhanu, breathe, you will as you inhale slowly, come up for a moment, just bring the soles of the feet together, let your knees go wide, we'll wiggle in here, hold your feet or your ankles, bowing forward bada konasana, inhale slowly, come on up, and meet me on your back, if you have a block bring that with you, just going to spin around as I roll onto the back, and take a moment as you come onto your back to hug your knees into your chest, rock a little side to side, maybe take your knees in circles in either direction, the low back a little massage, notice what you see when you come onto your back, and let's take supported bridge, letting the soles of the feet find the earth, hips distance, slide your block either the lowest, the medium or the highest height, under the low back, I'm going to take it the medium height, you want it just under the sacrum, so just below the spine, should feel really nice, no pinching, you might need to adjust a few times, but once you find that sweet spot let everything just melt down, the weight of the body supported by the block, bring your palms to face up on either side of your body, and you might stay right here, or maybe start to draw the knees in towards your chest, and then take the legs straight up for a supported bridge, supported table top, or excuse me, supported shoulder stand, and let your shoulders soften, maybe close your eyes, just breathe, all the benefits of going upside down in a restorative way, that letting go quality. That's what arises for you here, and then as you gently lower the feet down to the earth, take your block to the lowest height, so you might have to lift your hips and then just let everything melt down, straighten your right leg on your mat, bring the heel to the earth, and just feel that nice opening, the psoas, the front of the right hip, couple breaths, and just gently switch sides so you can bend your right knee, bring the sole of the foot to the earth, straighten your left leg, you can straighten out both legs if that doesn't feel too intense, otherwise one leg at a time is great, go ahead and bend through the left knee, and then lift your hips just enough to slide the block out to the side. As you let the hips lower, take your feet as wide as your mat, knees knock into touch, constructive rest, just a gentle release, and your lower back, maybe reach your arms up over your ears, drop both knees to the right, easy spinal twist, knees through center, both knees to the left, as you come through center, hug your knees in, give them a squeeze, there's anything else you need here, honor that, otherwise surrendering into the shape of Shavasana, corpse pose, letting your palms face up on either side of the body and close your eyes if that feels safe, and this posture is really all about that quality of surrendering, surrendering to what is, letting go, letting be, just rest, let go, let go, let go, let go, let go, just gently allowing the breath to begin to deepen as you fill your body with breath, inviting any movement in as you wake up, noticing how you feel, just gently take your time, if you want to stay here longer, please feel free otherwise, slowly make your way to seated however you choose to arrive there, so we come to our seated position, we draw hands together in Anjali Mudra, front of the heart, the meaning of Namaste is the light love and divine in me, greets and honors the light love and divine in you, thank you for sharing this practice with me, Namaste.