Day 7: Twist from the Heart

Hey everybody and welcome. This is day seven of your 10 day yoga challenge with me. And for today's sequence, you don't need anything for the practice. So if you got your body and you got your mat, you're good to go. All right, we're gonna begin in the seat.

So when you're ready, join me. All right, and then just take a moment to settle yourself into your body before we move, okay? So cross leg, if that feels comfortable, if you wanna stretch your legs, that's perfectly fine, but just find the space to be still, okay? Something that's something that you can manage for a bit as well, okay? Hands to the thighs if that feels comfortable unless you wanna bring the palms together, all right?

Then we're just gonna close our eyes to start. Nice, all right. Feeling for a moment that you can pause before we get into the movement today, all right? Just let that pause help you dive a little deeper into what's going on in the body, all right? If it feels nice, you might draw the shoulders down and away from the ears just to release the neck, all right?

And ground down through the seat, and maybe give a little lift through the heart just to feel that extension through the spine. All right, take a nice big inhale just to feel that through the chest. Nice, smooth exhale just to relax everything else, okay? Take the right hand to the heart, did I? And I just want you to feel with that hand pressed in that upper part of your body that you can take a little awareness into the heart space.

All right, feel the motion of that space as you breathe in. Feel the motion in the space that relax when you breathe out. Okay, we're gonna work through a lot in this area today, so just feel in that connection, take that into your mind and feel that a little deeper. All right, take one more inhale. Nice, and as you exhale, slowly float the eyes open.

All right, we're gonna transition into a tabletop position. All right, so roll forward onto your hands, knees onto the mat. All right, and then just take a moment to set yourself up. So hands underneath the shoulders, knees underneath the hips to stack everything. All right, so we're gonna move through a few cat-cows just so we can take a little motion into that upper part of the spine.

So as you inhale, let the belly drop to the mat, feel the chest and chin lift away from the floor. Good, and as you exhale, draw the belly in and feel that roundness in the upper back for a moment. Nice, do that one more time. Inhale, belly drops down to the mat, chest and chin, lips. All right, and as you exhale, maybe you curl, but round the upper back.

Feel that motion through the upper spine. Nice, one more time, inhale, belly drops down. This one I want you to hold for a bit. All right, pay attention to what it feels like to arch the spine, feel that openness through the front part of the chest. Nice, all right, and then as you exhale, draw the belly in, round your upper back, and then pause in here just to feel that roundness in that space in the upper part of the back in this motion.

Nice, okay, neutral spine. All right, so from tabletop, take your right hand to the center of the mat, and as you inhale, I want you to stretch your left arm up towards the ceiling. Good, as you exhale, swing that left arm underneath the body of the thread, and then let your shoulder and your ear rest onto the mat, okay? If you wanna take your top arm a little higher on the mat, that's perfectly fine, but feel that rotation a little more from the upper part of your body rather than feeling that motion through the bottom hips, bottom of the spine, okay? And then feeling, for a moment, I want you to ground that bottom hand, all right?

And then feeling as if you're trying to come into that cat-cow round feeling, draw the chest back, and as you push down, just feel that motion in the upper spine one more time. Nice, okay, subtle feeling, but it might feel like a lot, especially if you hold a lot in this space. Nice, all right, press the floor with that bottom arm, take a deep inhale, turn the chest to back. Nice, and then slowly on the breath, you're gonna unravel, so inhale, left arm stretches towards the ceiling. Nice, and as you exhale, take the left hand down.

Good, all right, if it feels good, you can pause. It also might feel nice to take yourself through a few gentle movements. Nice, all right, and then second side, left hand comes to the center of the mat, you're gonna inhale, reach your right arm towards the ceiling, and as you exhale, take that right arm underneath the body, relax the shoulder, let the ear lay. Good, all right, and again, left hand, wherever you feel comfortable, right, so sometimes it's fine and comfortable to come up here, okay, so if you wanna stretch that out, go for it, but this bottom arm, press down into the floor, and then imagine you can round your upper back to feel that feeling, upper spine one more time. Nice, okay, take another big breath in.

All right, take your time, you're gonna unravel, all right, let the inhale stretch your heart open one more time, and as you exhale, take that top hand down, okay, last little bit in this tabletop, so whatever you feel you need, go for it, good, all right, and you're gonna meet in down dog, so tuck your toes, lift the hips up and away from the mat, and then coming into it, good, all right, so free movement, right, first down dog of practice, so allow yourself to kind of stretch and get into those muscles, okay, especially if you're feeling a little cranky, creaky today, all right, cranky could be a thing, I don't know, kind of more into your heart, all right, so simple movements, pedal out heels, all right, feel that motion throughout the legs, and try to carry that throughout the body, right, so if it feels good, you can sway in other places, bend and flex what you need, all right, and then when you feel a little loose, you feel comfy, all right, bend your knees, look forward to the top of the mat, all right, and then slowly walk your feet in between both the hands, you're gonna come into a fold at the top, nice, all right, and as soft as you can allow yourself to be, relax upper body down to the floor, all right, feeling for a moment that you can create that same kind of release throughout the neck, so if it feels nice, maybe you shake your head a little yes or no, all right, you can sway upper body a little left or right, if it feels nice to let the upper back relax, especially today, right, I feel that motion through upper spine, nice, all right, take that motion and movement into the legs, bend in your knees as deep as you like to, try to take that, just free fluid kind of feeling down to the legs as well, nice, all right, so from here, you're gonna inhale into half lift, so hands to your thighs or your calves, if that feels a little more supportive, but feel you're stretching a little bit, but you still got that space and awareness in that upper part of your spine, okay, so lifting from the belly, chest up a little bit higher than waist level, good, feel that work along the back, feel that expression across upper body, maybe arms reach back today, that might feel nice, okay, take a deep inhale, exhale, forward fold, release and let that work go, good, all right, as you inhale, you're gonna stand all the way up, stretch the arms over the head, feel that reach through the hands, and then as you exhale, take the hands to the sides of the body to pause, good, all right, ground it for a moment, pull your attention back to the breath, take a deep inhale in, if you can, just a slow smooth exhale out, let that go, good, do that one more time, inhale as big as you can to lift the heart, nice, and as you exhale, feel that same space to release, okay, so keeping that focus on the breath, salutation, starting with half, okay, inhale, arms forward and up, nice, as you exhale, soften your body, come down and over the fronts of the legs, nice, as you inhale, lead from the heart, chest forward, nice, as you exhale, soften and release upper body, there we go, right, as you inhale, stand all the way up, take as much time as you need and stretch, good, as you exhale, let the hands soften to the sides, good, okay, one more time, try to lengthen the breath, inhale, lead from the heart, big stretch up, nice, as you exhale, soften, keep that same extension on the way down, nice, inhale, heart forward, extend a little bit, there we go, exhale, fold, let that all go, all right, inhale all the way to the top, take as much time as you need, again, and there's no rush, right, lengthen the breath if you can, good, as you exhale, let the hands soften to the sides, okay, if you wanna close your eyes, that might feel nice, one more time, inhale, lengthen the breath up, good, as you exhale, slower than you want to, extend on the way down, there we go, okay, so just lengthy breath, all right, inhale, half lift, take a moment at the top, exhale, take your time, no rush to get to the bottom, good, as you inhale, slowly rise, good, exhale, hands to the sides of your body, good, okay, keep that focus, one sun A, keeping the pace just a set rhythm, all right, inhale, arms forward and up, yeah, good, as you exhale, soften, all right, let everything release to the floor, good, as you inhale, half lift again, feel the back kinda light up a little bit, good, and as you exhale, take both hands to the mat, step both feet back, right, we pause and plank, okay, so as always, if you need a little more support, knees are always a good call, okay, spread the space between the fingers if you can and just try to release that tension a little on those knuckles, good, okay, and then similar to earlier, push into the mat, I want you to round upper back, nice, okay, keep that curl, inhale, exhale, come down halfway, nice, you wanna inhale over the toes, stretch the heart forward, feel that same kinda arch from earlier, good, and as you exhale, down dog, tuck your toes, hips lift, all right, pause it for a moment, all right, so the idea is that the same breath we started with, it's the same breath that we can carry throughout the poses as well, all right, so feel that there's no rush, there's no force into the rhythm of your breath, there's still length, there's still a calm cadence, nice, okay, and then from here, bend your knees, look forward, all right, and then slowly walk or hop in between the hands, forward fold, good, y'all, inhale as you come into half, and as you exhale, soften, release that effort, all right, inhale to stand all the way up, stretch all the way from feet to hands, and as you exhale, hands relax, good, y'all, okay, so the breath is like the bar for the practice, try to keep that quality, okay, last one, all right, inhale, arms forward and up, good, as you exhale, leading, yes, from here, all the way down, all right, inhale, heart forward, feel the chest go away from the thighs, good, as you exhale, hands on the mat, step both feet back, all right, and as you come into down dog, you can choose to pause, or if you feel you wanna flow throughout the practice, take the whole flow as much or as, not as much, as you like, all right, take a moment, okay, again, coming back to breathing, all right, let your focus, mind in focus, come back to that space around the heart, and if you feel the breath, just build around the upper spine, right, just feel that rhythm, every time you inhale, you notice that space of the body, all right, so from here, as you inhale, stretch your left leg up and back, good, as you exhale, step forward in between the hands, setting up warrior two, bring your back heel down, heart is open, arms are stretched to the sides, good, all right, feeling for a moment that you can ground yourself before we move, okay, so finding that same breath, all right, feel in that space, feel the heart, good, all right, and then focusing on that, stretch through the arms a little bit more, as if you're trying to create a little more space up top in this part of your body, so again, that active motion, spread the upper body, feel the shoulders, relax a bit more, all right, so from here, I actually want you to swing the arms back behind you, all right, you're gonna inhalate the fingers, and then punch a little down towards the mat, okay, if you can, shoulder blades might squeeze a little bit behind you, but we're creating that same kind of arch that we started class with, so again, heart is lifted, feel the heart and upper spine lift from the mat, okay, take a deep inhale, stretch chest forward and up, and now we're gonna take that motion down, and inside that front leg for humble warrior, nice, okay, so feeling that little articulation a little bit more, all right, chest presses out, and then feeling the shoulder blades squeeze together behind you, find as much space across that upper spine and chest as much as you can, nice, release the neck for a breath, all right, punch a little more towards the ceiling if you can, good, deep inhale, nice, as you exhale, release the hands to the mat, all right, step back downward for decent dog, all right, full flow if it feels good, inhale into plank, exhale, come halfway down, all right, up dog, you're gonna inhale over the toes, stretch your heart forward through the arms, and then exhale, hips lift, here we go, all right, soften it for a moment, again, find the breath, all right, and as you inhale, right leg this time, you stretch up and back, good, as you exhale, step forward in between both hands, and then find your warrior too with the right leg at the top, okay, so take a moment, all right, I don't want you to build a habit of like, next thing, next thing, next thing, but there's some space in your practice to settle and to breathe into it, okay, and then again, feel in here, there's a little bit of space around the heart, so stretch through those arms, enough to kind of support the shoulders relaxing in that space across upper spine, nice, and then from here, hands come back behind you, all right, you're gonna interlace the fingers, humble warrior prep, all right, punch back a little bit, and as you punch down, squeeze shoulder blades, you arch the spine like you felt earlier, okay, inhale, heart lifts up, and as you exhale, take the body towards that front leg, but inside, all right, and then let the head relax, let the arms punch up towards the ceiling, nice, y'all, okay, so if you want, settle feeling, but as you punch through the hands, create this feeling like you're trying to pull the hands away from each other, all right, so that might light up a little more in the front part of the body, but let that support the arch, punch towards the ceiling, nice, okay, take a deep inhale, exhale, release the hands, good, down dog, we step it back this time, all right, full flow or pause, you know you got options, nice, all right, softening in the breath before we step forward, take a moment, nice, okay, and from here, you're gonna bend your knees, look forward, all right, and then slowly walk or hop in between both hands, nice, y'all, half lift, inhale, exhale, soften your work, hallelujah, all right, one more time, inhale all the way to standing, and as you exhale, take your hands by your sides, we pause, all right, pull your mind back to breath, okay, so big inhale in, lead with the heart, nice, as you exhale, soften that space, feel that release, good, nice, okay, so as you're at the top of the mat, I just want you to bring both feet together, okay, so actually have your toes and heels together to touch, all right, and then you're gonna bring the hands to the heart, preposition, and as you inhale again, leading with the heart, lift that upper spine a bit, and as you exhale, sit the hips down and back, thunderbolt, okay, so feeling for a moment that weight is a little more into the heels, you're not too clenched up in toes, okay, and again, I want you to feel this lift, right, this extension but that slight arch through the upper body, okay, as you inhale, chest lifts up, and as you exhale, twist to the right, left elbow's gonna hook on to right knee, okay, it's a big thing, as we twist, I don't want you to feel like that rounding feeling that we practiced a little earlier, okay, not too much of an arch but feel lengthened and straight, okay, and then twisting just upper body, take a big inhale, as you exhale, turn the chest towards the thumbs, nice, okay, staying low in the seat if it feels good, heart up, there we go, okay, keep that, right, if you wanna stretch that left arm down to the mat, you're welcome to it, top arm might stay, excuse me, top arm might stretch up as well, but again, not to arch, not to cave, lengthen, all right, twisting through the upper body, take a big inhale, roll that top shoulder back, and then exhale, hands back to center, roll to the middle, and then forward fold, all right, feeling for a moment that there's space in between the work, okay, so try not to carry like work into your rest moments, let this be a real rest moment, and then try not to carry the rest into the work moment, all right, like there's space for both, so take all the rest you need, all right, so from forward fold, inhale in the half, good, as you exhale, fold forward one more time, all right, next inhale, stand all the way up, stretch through the hands, and as you exhale, let the hands relax to the sides, nice, okay, so setting up for the other side, we're gonna work through it the same way, all right, inhale, arms forward and up, good, as you exhale, hands to the heart, sit the hips down and back, nice, inhale, lift into the chest, as you exhale to the left this time, right elbow hooks onto left knee, good, okay, so if you can, keep the knees together, keep the feet together, all right, that firm pillar base is super supportive, all right, and then sit in the hips lower than the heart, try not to tilt forward, down, okay, lift it through the chest, take a big inhale, exhale a little bit deeper if you can press the hands, roll the heart towards the thumbs, good, stand low through the seat, feel that extension through the upper spine, again, lifted, take a big inhale, reach, exhale, maybe you sit a little lower, nice, okay, top arm, stay lifted through the upper body, okay, reaching towards the ceiling, big breath in, good, exhale, left hand down to the mat, per your position, take the breath, and then we fold on the exhale, good, y'all, all right, stay low for a moment, again, work moment, rest moment, okay, just the rest moment, try not to work in your rest, nice, all right, so from forward fold, you're gonna inhale in the half lift, nice, as you exhale, soften through the body one more time, good, as you inhale, stand all the way up and carry that reach through the hands, nice, as you exhale, hands to the sides of the body, okay, passing through one more time, just keeping that motion, all right, inhale, arms folding up, nice, as you exhale, take that all the way down, see if you can keep that lead through the heart, nice, all right, as you inhale, half lift, nice, as you exhale, hands to the mat, step both feet back in your choice, right, you either flow or you pause, but again, it's your choice, okay, nice, all right, so taking a moment from down dog, slowing in the breath, nice, all right, you're gonna inhale, right leg up and back, good, as you exhale, step forward in between both hands, all right, and we're gonna set up high lunge, so back heel stays up, back leg is straight, all right, and arms over the head to arrive, right, let the next exhale soften the shoulders and again, just feel that breath that you can take as you arrive rather than, you know, next thing, all right, pause for a moment, all right, and then from here, hands come down to the heart, all right, and we're gonna carry that same work that we did in Thunderbolt, you're gonna inhale, lift through the chest, and then keeping that extension, twist left elbow onto the right knee, palms press once again, okay, so feeling same idea, sometimes we get here, laying on the, like laying on thigh, feeling that extension, that length throughout upper spine, take a deep inhale, lift through the heart, and as you exhale, press hands, you might find a little more space to twist, okay, if you want, same idea here, left hand is gonna stretch down to the mat, top arm is gonna reach up towards the ceiling, all right, continuing to lift through the sides of the body, feel the heart stretch to the front of the room, nice, okay, take a deep inhale, stretch up, exhale, palms press, all right, try to catch your breath and balance, hands come back to the middle, inhale to reach up, you might go back, nice, as you exhale, take the hands to the mat, good, down dog, step back, and you know you got a choice. Nice, y'all, all right, same thing on the left side, so as you inhale, left leg stretches up and back, and as you exhale, step forward in between both hands, high lunge with that strong supported back leg, good, all right, so arms over the head to arrive, and then let the exhale remind you what you can soften, good, okay, take an inhale just to stretch through hands a bit, good, and as you exhale, take the hands to the heart, same idea, length, okay, inhale, lead from the chest, exhale, we twist, right elbow, hooks to left knee, all right, and again, just using that top hand, you wanna press the palms, but feel that rotation upper spine, there we go, okay, big inhale, exhale, turn to the thumbs, okay, resist that urge to slouch, right, lifted and extended, right, bottom arm towards the mat, top arm up and away if that feels welcome, good, all right, keep that lift, try to get the upper body off that front leg one more time, good, inhale, exhale, palms press, catch the breath, balance, inhale, reach up, nice, may be back, good y'all, exhale hands on the mat, down dog, good, nice, all right, so from down dog, in a slowly come onto the knees, all right, and it finds your way onto the seat, so simple swing around, all right, practice your break dance moves, joking, all right, so wide leg set up, all right, however you wanna set up on the mat, I'm just turning to the long side so I can, you know, right, right legs are up, all right, and then from here, give yourself a little bit of space to kind of find that range that feels desirable, and then just bounce your thighs a couple of times on the mat, all right, wake up the legs a little bit more, feel that space to open up, all right, and starting with some simple twist, all right, take the left hand to the inside of the right thigh, right hand is gonna come outside, maybe a little closer to the seat, okay, and as you inhale, I want you to press through the floor, lift through the heart, find that extension, upper spine one more time, right, as you exhale, find that space to twist towards the right foot, all right, so focusing on that extension, do that one more time, inhale, lift through the heart, press the floor, exhale if you can turn towards the toes, maybe a little bit past, find that, good, all right, you can keep this right here, stay lifted through that upper spine, if you wanna stretch down, left hand can reach to the foot, ankle, maybe on that opposite side, right, but not at the expense of collapsing, okay, so keeping that extension, keeping that lift, press your leg on the floor, one more inhale to stretch, and then exhale just a little more space, if you have that, good, all right, go to a place where you can maintain breath, and if that's something that's kinda being collapsed and choked, that's not what we wanna be, come out of it a little, all right, take one more inhale, nice, as you exhale, release, come back to the middle, all right, feeling for a moment if it feels nice, a little sway, all right, not an excuse to get you to dance and groove, but I appreciate it if you did, second side, right hand in between that leg, excuse me, right hand in the inside of that left leg, left hand on the outside, okay, feeling for a moment again that you can press to lift, and then as you exhale, heart turns towards that left foot, okay, it's gonna feel that extension one more time, press to mat, lift through the heart, and as you extend, we twist maybe a little past if you got that space, all right, good, hands stay where they are, unless you wanna explore a little bit more, we crawl, ankle, foot, maybe mat, okay, try not to collapse, feel that lift one more time again, just that feeling that, it's a slight arch, right, like a slight lift, but some extension, okay, press what you have one more time, take a deep inhale, nice, and then as you exhale, come all the way back to middle, okay, last one, both hands are gonna come in between both legs this time, all right, and then feel for a moment before we lead, all right, ground down through your thighs, so if your knees are bent, that's like fine, but if you can, press through the thighs, press through the backs of the knees, good, all right, and then as you push the floor with the hands, inhale, heart up, keep that extension, crawl the hands forward, okay, if you can, keep that extension through the spine, but also press through the legs, and then try not to let one be more active than the other, right, have this equanimous kind of work throughout the body, we're not forcing anything, right, and again, you might not go far, right, if I bend my knees, I can go great, but it's not the idea, press the thighs, lead from heart, right, let that stretch the back, let that lengthen spine a little bit more, good, all right, take one more inhale, heart forward, if you can, maybe a little more space to come down, nice, and then when you're ready, slowly rocks, all right, both legs together at the top of the mat, and then lay flat down on your back, nice, y'all, okay, so setting the body up for the last few moments of shavasana if you want, bottom of the feet on the mat, legs long if that feels a little more relaxed, okay, and then pausing, okay, see if for the next few moments, you can ground your attention on the movement in your heart space, like the movement around your chest and upper body, and anytime you notice that there's something pulling your attention away, what would it take for you to kind of come back and remind yourself that I'm here to breathe, I'm here to focus on that space and that space only. All right, thank you so much for joining us today, we'll see you next time, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, nice everyone, all right, no rush, don't let the sound of my voice prompt you feel like you need to move. If you can, let the breath be a little deeper. And just feel that movement, feel that exhale, feel that release a few more times before we shift. And slow, slow movement. All right, start to wake the fingers back up, start to flex through the toes if that feels nice. All right, slight movement to the head, start to release and move the neck. All right, I'm going to gently draw both legs up into the heart. So knees to chest, arms wrap around the legs if that feels comfortable. All right, take a like a couple gentle rocks to the left and right. All right, and then all the way over to the right, pausing on that right side head can rest on arm. All right, you're gonna slowly come up to a seat. Try to remain like grounded, excuse me, remain soft, remain relaxed. Eyes can be closed if that feels comfy for you. Hands come to the thighs and the knees, or you can press the palms together at the heart. Just take a moment to feel yourself. All right, especially in this day to day, I feel like a lot of our attention is focused outward for most of our time. We're awake. All right, but for just a few moments, even if it's for just this breath a minute, feel you feel inside. Nice. Thank you so much for working today. Thank you so much for sharing your practice. As always, I'm grateful. Namaste.