Spiral Flow

Welcome, everyone. So happy to have you with us for this practice. It's a really fun kind of fluid, creative one inspired loosely on the second chakra. So I hope that we all have a little fun together today. Let's take the hands to prayer at the heart center and open with a gentle Aum. Exhale, just empty all the breath out. Let it go. Take a big inhale through the nose. Aum. Then just another moment of stillness. Consider any intention you may have for this practice. And then as you're ready, let the eyes open. Let's take a big inhale, reach the arms out and up. Exhale, release and come on up to the hands and the knees. We're going to take a cat cow, but a very fluid kind of spirally cat cow. So as you inhale, lift the tailbone, lift the heart and the gaze. As you exhale, round and then just start to play with that kind of circle, head and hips. Moving in any direction, any rhythm that feel good spiraling the spine and bringing that sense of kind of fluid, watery movement into the body. Another breath or two. Then when you're ready, come back to neutral, root those hands, take a big inhale, tuck the toes. And as you exhale, go all the way up and back, downward facing up. Then with the next inhale, roll it forward into your plank pose and with your exhale, lower the knees, come all the way down. Slide the hands forward, tense your fingertips and then inhale, roll the spine up and exhale, release back to the earth. Let's do that a couple more times again, really fluid through the spine. Inhale, rolling up. You can even play with the shoulders a little bit. Exhale to melt down. And then once again, inhale, rise. Exhale to release, float back down, hands outside of rib cage. Inhale, press to hands and knees, tuck the toes. Exhale back to your down dog. One breath here. Then with the inhale, lift the right leg a little. With your exhale, step that right foot forward. Then you're going to spin that back heel to the earth, turn the right toes open and reach your right arm to the back of the mat. A spiraling opening through the hips. Take a breath, big inhale. Play with me here. Exhale, spin all the way over to the left for Skandhasana, bending that left knee, lengthening right leg. Take a moment. Yeah. And then we'll float between the two. Stay for your inhale. And as you exhale, spin it all the way around again. Stay for your inhale. Exhale all the way back to Skandhasana. Yeah. Once again, inhale, bend that right knee, reach the right arm back. This time with your exhale, come all the way around to the left, hands frame the left foot. Step into plank. Take a big inhale. Exhale, lower the knees, come all the way down. Fluid Vinyasa. Inhale, rise just as high as you feel for. Exhale, really pressing up. Inhale, hands and knees. Tuck the toes. Exhale, down dog. Take a breath. Right. We're going to do that again to come full circle. Inhale, lift right leg a little. Exhale, step it forward. Bend that left heel down. Turn right toes out. Inhale, reach. Exhale, Skandhasana over to the left. A couple more. Inhale, reach. Exhale, Skandhasana to the left. One more full cycle. Play with it. Inhale and exhale. Good. This time, inhale, reach. And with your exhale, you're going to come all the way back to the front of the mat. Frame that left foot. Lower the back knee. Low lunge. Inhale, rise. Exhale to deepen. Take a moment. Yeah. And then with your next exhale, take the hands to the heart. Inhale, lift from the belly.

Exhale, twist. Hook the elbow outside of the knee. Spiral the spine. Ground that left foot. Open it up. A couple more breaths. Good. On the next inhale, unravel. Draw it back up. Exhale, release. Hands to the earth. Tuck back toes. Step into plank. Pause for your exhale. Exhale, lower the knees. Come all the way down. Inhale, lift through the heart. And exhale. Take it back. Downward facing dog. Pausing here. Give it a couple breaths. Soft through the neck. Long spine. All right. Come in full circle again. This time, leading with a left leg. Inhale, reach it up a little. Exhale, step it forward. Then spin that right heel. Turn left toes out. Inhale, reach to the back of the mat. Pause for a moment. Stay for the inhale. And then exhale. Spin all the way around. Skandhasana on the right.

Stay for your inhale. And exhale all the way around to the left. Reach it back. Inhale, bend that right knee. Exhale, spin it around. Again, inhale. Exhale, spin it around. Then we're going to come all the way to the back of the mat. Let hands frame that right foot. Step back into plank. Pause on your inhale. Exhale. Lower all the way down. Inhale, lift the heart. Exhale. Take it back. Downward facing dog. Take a breath or two here. And then come in around. Inhale, left leg up again. Exhale, step it forward. Drop that right heel. Turn left toes out. Inhale, reach. Exhale. Skandhasana to the right, just as far as serves. Inhale, spin it around again. Exhale, back to the right. Last one. Inhale, spin it around. Exhale, turn it back to the front of the mat. Stay there and just release the back knee down to the earth. Low lunge. Inhale, rise. Exhale, deepen it. Breath or two here, just feel into the length of the spine. And with your exhale, hands to the heart. Inhale, lengthen.

Exhale, find that twist. Hook the elbow outside of the knee. Gently. Ring it out. On a breath or two. With an exhale, draw it back to center. And then with the exhale, just release the hands, step to plank. Take a big inhale. Exhale, lower the knees. Come all the way down. Inhale, lift the heart. And exhale, downward facing dog. Pausing here. Come back to your center. Big breath. Yeah, just reconnecting to intention and moving from there. With your next inhale, right leg to the sky. With the exhale, step it forward and then rise on the inhale, crescent high lunge. Exhale, just sink down into it, dropping the tailbone. Lift that belly nice and tall. Give it another breath. Then stay for your inhale, let the heart lift a bit. And exhale, release. Just step straight back into your down dog. Take a breath. With the next inhale, left leg to the sky. And with the exhale, step it forward. High lunge, crescent, rise on the inhale. And exhale, deepen. Drop the tailbone. Engage the belly, tall spine. Another breath. And then inhale, lift the heart. And exhale, release. Hands to the earth again, straight to your down dog. Pause, take a breath. And then in a moment, we're going to build the pace, the heat, the energy a little bit. Slow it down, rest as needed. As you're ready, inhale, right leg to sky. Exhale, step it forward. Inhale, rise, high lunge. Exhale, deepen. Inhale, lift the heart. Exhale, release. Down dog, left leg. Inhale, to the sky. Exhale, step it forward. Inhale, rise. Exhale, deepen. Inhale, lift the heart.

Exhale, hands to the earth. Down dog. Again, right leg, inhale. Exhale, float forward. Of course, slow it down as you'd like. Inhale, rise. Exhale. Inhale, lift the heart. Exhale, hands to the earth. Step it back down dog. Take a breath. Left leg, inhale. Step it forward. Rising on the inhale. Deepen on the exhale. Inhale, lift the heart a little. Exhale, hands to the earth. Downward facing dog. Then inhale, right leg to sky. Exhale, step it forward round. Rise on the inhale. Exhale, just pause. We're going to play with it this time. So from the deep lower belly, big inhale, rise. And then exhale, twisting to the right, right arm to back of mat, left arm to front. If you feel relatively stable, look back and breathe, bringing it out. Yeah. With the next inhale, draw it back to your high lunge crescent. Just ground. Inhale, lift the heart. Exhale, hands to the earth. Step back into your down dog. Take a breath. Second side, inhale, left leg up. Exhale, step it forward. Inhaling rise. Exhale, settle. And big inhale, lift deep belly. Exhale, twisting to the left, left arm reaches back, right arm reaches forward. Maybe look back past left fingertips. If you fall, great. Come back. Just try it again. A couple more breaths. Inhaling back to your crescent rise and then settle. With the next exhale, just release hands to earth. Step back into your down dog. Really nice work. Stabilize for a breath or two. Yeah. And then slowly on an inhale, just walking the feet forward towards the front of your mat. And as you arrive, release. Feet about hips distance. Soft bend in the knees. Head heavy. Let the upper body sway. Maybe hold elbows. Just kind of let it all go for a couple breaths. And then if you do have the bind, release the hands to the earth. Keep that soft bend in the knees. Keep the head heavy. And then slowly, as you inhale, roll up. Let the body kind of sway side to side as you go. Stay with that really fluid, watery sense. And then all the way up and let the shoulders roll, releasing. Heel, toe, feet together, hands to prayer, heart center. Samastitihi. Inhale, reach the arms out and up. Bending the knees, trace the midline, exhale, just ripple down to the earth. Strong center, flat back, inhale, rise all the way up. And again, soft bend in knees, trace the midline, ripple all the way down. Inhale, rising again, all the way up, arms to the sky. And exhale, really smell to the earth. Good. This time, inhale, roll right up the midline. Exhale, release shoulders back and down and return to Samastitihi. Take a grounding breath here. Then deep bend in the knees. Inhale, Utkatasana. Pause for a moment super strong through foundation, engaging through center. Inhale. And then exhale, take the hands to prayer at heart center. Inhale, lift that deep belly a little bit and exhale, twist to your right, hug the left elbow outside of the right knee and spiral the spine. Gaze to the earth or up. That's up to you. Take a moment. Inhaling back to center. Exhale, twist to the left. Take a moment. Side to side. Inhale center. Exhale to the right, hands in prayer or open. Inhale center. Exhale to the left, hands in prayer or open. Again, inhale. Exhale right. Inhale. Exhale left. Inhale center. And then exhale, just release back into your fold. Take a breath here. Let that all go. And then again, deep bend in the knees. Inhale rise, Utkatasana. Exhale hands to the heart. We're going to deepen this. Stay with the flow. Inhale rise. Exhale, twist to the right. Steady the gaze to the earth. Really ground that right foot, strong right leg. Lift from the center. Take the left foot back. Twisting side angle. You're always free to lower the back knee, to play with the arm variation. You can go anywhere you want with it. Three more breaths. Three. Two. Yeah. Before we shift, just explore left hand outside of left foot, right arm up and over. If it's not available, it's not available.

No big deal. Just explore for a moment. And then before you move, picture your crescent. And on the inhale, unravel and come back into it. Exhale, just ground. Give it a breath. Mm-hmm. Inhale here. Then with the exhale, just spin that back heel down. Let the arms go wide. Warrior two, ground in it. Steady gaze, steady breath. Just this. Couple breaths. Big inhale. And then exhale, side angle. Resting the form to the thigh, palm open. Left arm up and over, palm down. And again, your variation. So stay where you are or release the hand to the earth. If you're working with a bind, go for it. Anchor that left heel. Reach through left fingertips. Breathing. Three. Two. Feel the strength of your legs. Lift from your center. Inhale, back to your warrior two. Exhale, just ground. Good. Take a big inhale. Exhale, hands to the earth. Step back to plank. Pause. Big inhale here. Exhale, lower however you choose. Inhale, cobra, up dog. Exhale. Take it all the way back. Downward facing dog. Steady here. Come back to your center for a couple breaths. Yeah. At the bottom of your next exhale, soft bend in the knees. Upper step to the front of the mat. As you arrive, inhale halfway. Exhale, fold. Bending the knees. Inhale, utkatasana. Here we go again. Exhale, hands to the heart. Take a big inhale. Lift a bit. Exhale, twisting to the left. Hook the elbow. Spiral the spine. Gaze up or to the earth. And then turn the gaze down if it's up. Root that left foot. Lift from center. Step the right foot all the way back. Twisting side angle. And again, maybe you lower the back knee. Maybe you open the arms. Make it yours.

A few more breaths. Now before we come out of it, just explore if you haven't already what is it to take that right hand outside of the front foot. Maybe it's more available than you realize. Left arm up and over. Maybe not. Just give it a try for a breath or two. And then steady foundation. Unravel on the inhale. Find that high lunge. Exhale, steady the body. Nice work. Big inhale. Exhale, open it. Warrior two. Grounding. Steady breath and gaze. Yeah, big inhale. Exhale, side angle, forearm to thigh. Palm up. Right arm up and over, palm down. Feel free to stay right there or ease left hand to the earth or maybe to a block if you have one. Yeah, take the bind if you'd like. Feel that length through the right side body. Ease into it. A couple more breaths. Yeah, rise from center. Inhale, back to your warrior two. Exhale, settle ground. Big inhale. And exhale, hands to the earth. Up to plank pause. Engage the whole body buoyant through the center. Inhale. Exhale, knees are chaturanga. Inhale, cobra up dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. Give it a moment. Deep full breath. Yeah. Then at the bottom of your exhale, soft bend in the knees. Upper step through to sit. We'll meet in dandasana, seated staff. Ground the sit bones. Ground the hands. Then we're going to play with this a little bit. Come into Gomukhasana by bending the right knee and then taking the left knee over. This doesn't work for the knee joints. You can take an easy cross-legged position, double pigeon, whatever feels best. Then once you're here, settle the hands, steady the gaze. Your choice. Stay right where you are or inhale, arms up. Exhale, fold forward. Opening through outer hip by T-band area. Releasing the neck. Let it go. A couple more breaths. If you are in the fold, slow rise. Inhale. Let's just ease back, plant the hands, unwind and re-cross the legs with the right knee on top. Grounding sit bones. Make those subtle adjustments. Maybe roll calf muscles out a bit and then rest as is. Inhale, reach up and exhale into your fold. With all that heat you've generated from your practice into the whole bowl of the pelvis, opening outer hip, IT band muscles.

One more breath. And then slowly inhale, draw it back in and up. As you're ready, exhale just gently unravel. Cross the ankles, plant the hands to get back into down dog. One last vinyasa. Clear it all the way. Inhale, plank. Exhale, lower. Inhale to rise. Exhale, downward facing dog. Take a big inhale. Bottom of the exhale, hopper step through to sit and just roll all the way down onto the back. And as you land, draw the legs in towards the chest, wrap the arms around the legs, rock yourself a little side to side. Take hold of the feet or the ankles. And you can take a neutral happy baby or you can rock a little. You can lengthen one leg and then the other. Whatever feels best, help, release. Just a couple more breaths here. And then a big inhale and exhale, release. The legs extend and just naturally roll open, the arms rest, palms to sky. Lay the body down. Take a big inhale through the nose and then open the mouth. Exhale, let it go. Give yourself the sweet space to release and to integrate the benefits of the practice. Just rest. Exhale through the nose and exhale through the nose. Exhale through the nose and exhale through the nose and exhale through the nose. Exhale through the nose and exhale through the nose. As you're ready, deepen the breath. Wiggle fingers and toes. You can reach up and over.

You can rock to either side or you can just guide yourself directly back up. Find any comfortable seat. Resting the hands, soften the gaze or close the eyes. And let's take just a moment here to make a mindful transition from the practice into the rest of your day. Grounding in the body and the breath. Taking hands to prayer at heart center, closing with a gentle Aum, together a big inhale. Aum. Gently inhaling, soft bow forward with the exhale. Namaste. Thanks for playing with me. Always such a joy to be together. Be well. Stay.