Fluid Balance

Welcome, and thank you for joining me for this steady flow practice. We're going to play with balancing postures, trying to find fluidity within the balance, and play with our edge a little bit and kind of catch ourselves if we fall. So please join me seated, we'll begin there. Taking three cleansing breaths together to begin. If it feels comfortable, maybe the eyes close for a moment, shifting the gaze to the internal space.

Just take a moment to notice what you're showing up to your practice with today. Just meeting yourself where you are, starting from wherever it is that you are. And just for this next 60 minutes or so, you release what maybe came before and what you might be anticipating as coming after your practice and just allow yourself this space, this time for you. Breathing in through the nose, out the mouth, two more inhale through the nose, exhale to sigh it out, one more inhale, releasing something on the exhale. Blinking the eyes open, we'll start with some Sufi circles.

So having the right shin in front, start to make some circles with your spine here as you inhale, bringing the chest forward over the knees as you exhale, kind of rounding back. Good, and you can take these circles as big or as small as it feels good. If there's a place that it feels good to linger, maybe you're lingering. Good, taking a few more rounds, letting the head, neck, and shoulders release into this fluid circle motion. Good, and then start to let the circles become a little bit smaller as you come back to your center.

Nice. And then reaching the right leg open to the right, bring the left foot to the inner upper right thigh. We're going to play with the fluid Janu Sarsana practice here, so bringing the right hand to the outside of your right leg, sweep the left arm up and over your ear so that there's this nice side body stretch. Reach the fingertips, can soften the right elbow. Good, and then coming back, bring the left hand to the outside of your left hip, reach the right arm up, and then lift the hips as you reach up and over that right ear.

Good, and then just go between those two shapes a few times, so coming back into Janu, reaching left arm over, and as you inhale, come on back up, reaching right arm over, hips lift. Good, one more, bringing it back, exhale, and as you inhale, opening up through the chest, the heart space, Stargazer, good, and then come back through center. This time we'll bring the left shin in front of the right, so back to seated Sukhasana. Moving back into Sufi rolls, you can start to bring the circles maybe to your right this time as you, or different directions, whatever one you did the first time, just making these circles as big or as small as it feels good for you. I always find this as such a nice way to start a practice.

It really gets into the spine, the hips, the low back, all those sticky spots. Moving the energy, and then coming back through center, making the circles a little bit smaller as you come back to your center. We'll reach the left leg out to the left, right foot comes to inner upper left thigh, left hand reaches to the outside of the left leg, and then we'll reach up and over for a side body stretch, good, and then the right hand finds the earth, lift the hips, left arm reaches up and over your ear, two more like that, exhale, folding, inhale, right hand down, lift the hips, lift up, good, last one, exhale, reaching up and over, side body, good, and then bringing it back, left arm lifts, hips lift, gaze might lift, good, and then let that go. Let's come to tabletop, so crossing at the ankles, however you want to get there, we'll bring shoulders over wrists, hips over knees, and then cross the right knee behind the left knee, and start to let the shins open up a little bit, we'll press into the top of the feet here, and then a wrist stretch, you could turn your right hand to the side of the mat, or maybe the fingertips start to face toward you, and then gently pressing that right hand down, and then start to take some circles here in either direction, and just kind of moving around, feeling into sensation, you can go in the opposite direction, beautiful, and then coming back through center, face the right hand forward, and then from here float the right leg back behind you, flex through the right foot, both hands planted down on the earth, allow a big full breath in, draw the navel to the spine, so engaging through the core, and then start to draw the right knee toward your nose, rounding here, hovering, good, inhale, reach the right leg back, flexing through the right foot, and then as you exhale, bring the right knee toward the right elbow or tricep, good, inhale, sweep the leg back, exhale, cross the body this time, draw the right knee toward the left elbow or tricep, good, and then draw the right knee back, or the right leg back, straightening it, good, and then both knees down on the ground, shift the hips back for child's pose, just taking a moment to ground, reaching arms forward and hips back, maybe wiggle a little side to side, and just knowing that as we move into this steady flow, you're welcome to ground and come here at any time that feels appropriate for you, just honoring your body, good, slowly make your way back to tabletop, we'll take it to the second side, crossing left knee behind the right, you can let the shins open up wide, pressing through the tops of the feet and the shins, and then the left hand, either it turns to the side of the mat, or if it feels okay, maybe the fingertips face toward you, and then start to circulate the energy, taking some circles in either direction, just kind of notice what you notice, notice where you feel this, good, and then slowly coming back through central face, the left hand forward, this time float your left leg back behind you, flexing the foot, engaging through the core, big breath in, exhale, knee to nose, round and hover, good, inhale, sweep the left leg back, lengthening, exhale, left knee, left elbow or tricep, good, inhale, sweep it back, exhale, left knee to right elbow or tricep, and then sweep it back, beautiful, this time lower the left toes and the right toes, coming into plank pose, top of a pushup, always welcome to lower the knees here and find this length with the shoulders over the wrists, hips in line with the shoulder blades, active in your legs, and then keeping this nice length, lifting the hips up and back and finding your downward facing dog, so that's about the length that you'd want your down dog, starting to let the heels melt down, and first dog, maybe it feels good to pedal it out a few times, maybe sway your hips side to side, just feeling into the back of your legs, find the breath, beautiful, and then back to plank pose on your inhale, keeping that length in the spine, exhale, downward facing dog, let's do two more like that, inhale, glide forward to plank, let the exhale bring you back to down dog, one more inhale, gliding forward to plank pose, exhale back to downward facing dog, now pick up the hands and walk them to the back of your mat, finding a nice easy forward fold, feel free to soften the knees a little bit, you might hold opposite elbows, just letting everything melt down, crown of the head toward the toes, maybe sway a little side to side, shake the head, yes and no, and if you're crossing at the elbows and you take the opposite arm on top for a few more breaths, I like to play with shifting a little weight toward the balls of the feet, beautiful, and then take your time, hands on the earth, slowly walk back into downward facing dog, good, as you arrive in downward facing dog, reach the right leg up and back, take a moment to bend the right knee, open up through the right hip, maybe roll out your ankle in either direction, pressing through both hands, three leg dog, good, and then start to straighten through the right leg, gaze between your thumbs and draw the knee to your nose here, so hovering, top of a push up, good, inhale, sweep the right leg up and back, cross your right knee toward your left elbow and hover, top of a push up, good, inhale, three leg downward facing dog, exhale, right knee, right elbow, this time we're going to take a big step to the outside of the right hand, so we're in lizard lunge, letting the left knee lower down to the earth, if that feels okay, you're welcome to take a couple blocks under your hands if that feels better for you, good, and then maybe start to bring your right hand to the inside of your right thigh, gently press the leg open a little bit, so the right knee is over the right ankle, good, and then start to shift back, straightening through the right leg any amount, lifting the toes up off the earth, so it's kind of this wider hamstring stretch, Ardha Hanumanasana, and I'm keeping my right hand on the right leg, I'm going to move between those two shapes a couple times, so as you inhale, re-bend the right knee, open up into lizard, exhale, shift back, feels really good, and then inhale, lizard lunge, maybe opening up to the side, exhale shift back, Ardha Hanumanasana, beautiful, and then I'll re-bend through the right knee, plant the right hand down, tuck the back toes, and step back downward facing dog, beautiful, glide forward into plank this time, let's take a slow lower all the way to the belly, hugging the elbows in, yet untuck the toes, bhujangasana cobra, start to peel the chest up, and exhale, release, let's do that two more times as you inhale, draw shoulders away from ears, hug elbows in, peel the chest up, exhale, release, one more inhale, and exhale, press it back to our downward facing dog, moving into the second side, sweeping the left leg up and back, maybe take a moment, bend the knee, open up through the left hip, take some circles with your foot, your ankle, beautiful, and then straightening through the left leg, gaze forward, draw the knee to the nose, and hover, top of a push up, good, three leg dog, inhale, sweep the leg up and back, exhale, left knee, right tricep hover, inhale, sweep it up and back, three leg dog, exhale, draw the left knee toward the left elbow or tricep, and then again, big giant step to the outside of the left hand, back in lizard, letting the right knee lower to the earth. So welcome to keep hands here, if it would feel okay to open up to the side, you can bring your left hand to the inside of the left thigh, and just gently start to draw the knee open, keeping it aligned with your ankle, and I'm rolling a little bit to the outside of my left foot, but again, just finding your edge without force, without pushing through, good, and then I'm gonna keep my hand on the left thigh as I shift back coming to Ardha Hanumanasana, so straightening through the left leg, any amount, toes up off the earth, and then fluidly inhale, re-bend, lizard lunge, exhale, half split Ardha Hanumanasana, good, inhale, re-bend, open to the side, exhale, shift back, nice, and then re-bend through the left knee, bring the hands to the inside of the front foot, and we'll step back to downward facing dog, left foot meets the right, glide forward to plank pose, this time lower halfway or all the way down, Chaturanga, you might stay with cobra, or maybe start to straighten the arms, firm the thighs up off the earth, and come to up dog, good, exhale, meeting back in downward facing dog, let's take a big cleansing breath in, exhale, release, good slow walk to the front of the mat this time, feet come up toward the hands, feel the soles of the feet grounded, and we'll take a slow roll, vertebra by vertebra as we get up to the top, and then come to stand, find Tadasana, take a moment as we will play with balance, feel the soles of the feet grounded, spread the toes, maybe shift the weight back and forth a few times just to find that center, and this might be a nice place to set an intention for your practice, anything you'd like to call in, perhaps let go of, what are you working with today, intention or some cult book can be translated into what is the heart's deepest desire, good, and we'll move through some sun salutations, a little bit different, play with balance as we do that, so starting to draw the right knee in toward your chest, and sweep the arms all the way up as you do that, good, and then reaching the right leg back toward warrior three, you also want to reach the right arm forward and the left arm draws back, so we're splitting the arms, finding our balance there, hang out for a moment, and then step back to warrior two, so the right foot finds the earth, arms open wide, bend through the left knee, flipping the front palm coming into reverse warrior, feel the length in the side body, good, and then circle down and through vinyasa, so stepping back plank pose, exhale chaturanga, inhale cobra or up dog, exhale roll over the toes, back to where we started, down dog, good, and we'll breathe in, rising high up onto the toes, bend the knees, look forward, step or lightly float front of the mat, inhale to lift halfway, lengthen through the spine, offer the heart forward, exhale soften and fold, good, root down to rise, arms sweep out and up, exhale, hands to heart center, good, taking it to the other side, so the left knee starts to draw into the chest, ground through the right foot, perhaps sweep the arms all the way up, and then as your left leg shifts back toward warrior three, we split the arms, so reaching left arm forward, right arm back, find a little balance, wobble, if you fall out, whatever, come back in, doesn't matter, warrior two, take a moment to step the left foot back, bend through the right knee, good, and then flipping your front palm, reverse, so we're gonna take this in one breath per movement, circling the hands down to the earth, step back, plank pose, shift forward, chaturanga, inhale cobra or upward facing dog, exhale downward facing dog, good, breathing in, breathing out, rising high up onto toes, bend knees, look forward, step or float front of the mat, inhale lift halfway, lengthen, exhale, fold uttanasana, root down through the feet to rise, arms sweep up, exhale, hands to heart center, let's take this two more times on each side, we'll move a little bit quicker as we flow with our breath, and let this be a flow meditation, flowing with devotion, so as you're ready, let's draw the right knee in toward the chest, standing onto the left foot, arms sweep up, as you exhale, right arm forward, right leg back, split arm warrior three, whoop, and then come back right into reverse warrior, so letting the right foot find the earth, sweep the left arm up and over your ear, exhale right into the vinyasa, circling the hands down, step back, plank pose, chaturanga, inhale cobra or upward facing dog, exhale down dog, one breath in, one breath out, rising up onto toes, bend your knees, look forward, step or float front of the mat, now lengthen halfway, exhale fold, root down through the feet to rise, arms sweep up, exhale, hands to heart, left side, standing onto the right foot, draw the left knee in toward the chest, arms sweep up, and then left arm forward, left leg back, right arm back, open up, reverse warrior, so letting the left foot come down, sweep the right arm up and over, and then circle down and through, feel free to skip any of these vinyasas, otherwise moving through chaturanga, inhale cobra or up dog, exhale beautiful downward facing dog, inhale, exhale, rise up onto toes, knees bend, look forward, step or lightly float front of the mat, inhale, lengthen halfway, exhale, release, root down to rise, arms sweep up, exhale, hands to heart, we got one more round in us, as you're ready, draw the right knee in, arms sweep up, find the fluidity in the balance, right arm forward, right leg back, reverse warrior, reaching all the way up and back, good, circle down and through, vinyasa, skip it, chaturanga, inhale cobra or up dog, exhale, down dog, big full breath in, long breath out, good, rising up onto toes, knees bend, step or lightly float front of the mat, inhale, lift halfway, lengthen, exhale, fold, root down to rise, arms sweep up, exhale, hands to heart, last round, bring the left knee in, arms sweep up, lengthening, left leg back, left arm forward, right arm back, reverse warrior, step as you inhale, sweep it up and back, right arm reaches, exhale, circle down, vinyasa, nice work, as we come into cobra or up dog on the in breath, child's pose, x breath, good, and maybe you're taking a nice wide knee child's pose so that the torso kind of drapes down between the legs, get into the hips a little bit, find your breath, feel the earth, beautiful, a couple more full deep breaths to notice where that fluid movement lands, notice what may have come up for you, what's coming up right now, and then can you anchor back to the breath, taking your time to make your way back into downward facing dog, we'll tuck the toes, lift the hips up and back, rising up onto toes, knees bend, look forward, step or lightly float, front of the mat, inhale, lengthen, come halfway up, exhale, release and fold, root down to rise, arms sweep out and up, exhale, gather hands together in front of the heart and then maybe bring one hand to the heart, one hand to the belly, take a moment to bow in towards yourself, feel your heart beat, we're gonna work with that beginning part of the sequence and just kind of add on a little bit as we move into our standing sequence, so as you're ready, arms sweep up, draw the right knee in towards your chest, so same thing here, right leg back, right arm forward, left arm sweeps back, little balance, warrior two, this time pause in warrior two, gonna take a moment to find your internal alignment, sinking toward 90 degrees in the front knee, good and then from here, flip the front palm tilt back into reverse warrior and then elbow to thigh extended side angle, we can reach that right arm straight up or maybe take it up and over your ear, finding length from the fingertips to the right heel, finding one point to focus your gaze, I'm just looking straight in front of me, you might be looking up or down, notice what feels right in your neck, good and then breathe into the shape, good and then right from here, can you start to straighten that left leg, sweep the right arm in front of you and then up for triangle pose, so left hand below the knee, right arm lifts, good, find some length here, lean back a little bit and we'll move into a balance of half moon, so right hand to hip, gaze down, I'm gonna grab my block to place under my left hand, start to transfer the weight into the left leg, floating the right leg up, stacking hips, stacking shoulders and you can reach that right arm up, notice where you're gazing, looking down, you might be looking up at your fingertips, embracing the wobble, beautiful and then slow transition, chair pose, front of the mat, reaching right foot next to the left, bend the knees deeply, arms sweep up, utkatasana, everyone's favourite, and then straighten the legs, feel the lift in the upper back, the heart space, you might even lean back a little bit and then draw your hands together in front of your heart, back to one, second side as you're ready, start to draw your left knee in toward the chest, sweep the arms up, engage the core and then left arm forward, right arm back as you move into warrior three, good, and then we'll find warrior two, take a moment to pause in warrior two, maybe sink in and out of it a few times to find your sweet spot and let your shoulders soften, energize through the fingertips, good, and then flipping the front palm, keep the legs as they are, tilt back, reverse warrior, extended side angle, elbow to thigh, left arm can reach up or over that left ear, if you're reaching it over the ear, draw the shoulder back, find that opposing energy of reaching through the left fingertips and then back through that left heel, beautiful, and then slowly, safely sweep the left arm in front of the face, we'll start to straighten the right leg any amount for triangle pose, left arm lifts, right hand below the knee, stacking shoulders, fix your gaze on something, maybe that's not moving and then finally coming to the breath, a little lift in the heart space, a transition artichandrasana, half moon, left hand comes to the hip, gaze down, I'm gonna grab my block, transferring the weight into the right leg this time, float the left leg up, can stack hips and shoulders, reach that left arm up, good, and the block is for me, just feels really stable and nice to bring the earth up to meet me a little bit, it allows me to get a little bit more length through my spine, a little more spaciousness, good, and then we softly step left foot to meet the right, chair pose, utkatasana, arms sweep up, find length in the spine as you sink in, and then press through the soles of the feet, lift up through the heart space, lean back a little bit and draw your hands to your heart, take a moment, feel the effects of that round heartbeat, breath and tension, why do you practice? Beautiful, so we're gonna stay with that same beginning and then add on just a little bit, getting a little deeper into the hips this time, so starting to draw the right knee into the chest, sweep the arms up, right arm forward, left arm back, warrior three, warrior two, open up to face the side of the mat, flip the front palm tilt back, reverse warrior, and just flowing through extended side angle, one breath, bringing it into triangle pose, sweeping the right arm in front of the face and up, left arm down, beautiful, and then strong in the legs, come up to stand, parallel the feet to face the side of the mat, maybe do a little shimmy to get to the center of your mat, draw your hands to your hips, draw the elbows back, heart lifts, prasarita, find a nice fold, let your hands fall wherever they'd like to fall, just get upside down for a moment, I'm gonna walk my hands back and underneath my legs, good, and then let's go a little deeper into the hips with skandhasana, so walking the hands forward, fingertips under the shoulders, start to turn the right toes to face the corner of your mat, and then put a bend in the right knee as you crawl your hands over toward that right leg, now you can keep the soul of your foot on the earth for that left side, or maybe you come up onto that left heel, that will be a little bit deeper into the hips, and then why don't we move this side to side, so start to walk toward the left, bend the left knee, right leg straight, one more time toward the back of the mat, right knee bends, left leg straight, good, and then stay low to the earth, we'll come all the way to the front of the mat, pause in runner's lunge, start to heel toe the left foot to the left, so bringing the hands on the inside of your front foot, and again, maybe you have a block handy, and then we'll come into a held lizard, so letting the right knee find the earth, and then maybe the forearms lower, find your edge, if you found that you maybe stepped a little too far over the edge and come back out of there, maybe you're playing with opening it up to the side again, you might even bend that right knee and reach back for your foot with your left hand, give you a quad stretch, and there's just so many things going on in this posture, one of my favorites, and here comes the rain again, good, and find your breath, love this sound of the rain, so much to teach us, good, and then slowly, wherever you're at, you can make your way out of lizard, hands to the inside of the front foot, tuck the back toes, lift the back knee up, downward facing dog, left foot steps back to meet the right, beautiful, inhale plank, maybe chaturanga, inhale cobra or upward facing dog, exhale, roll over the toes, down dog, big full breath in, long full breath out, beautiful, rising up onto toes, knees bend, look forward, step or lightly float front of the mat, inhale to lengthen, come halfway up, exhale fold, good, root down to rise, arms sweep out and up, exhale, draw hands to heart, we'll set up for the second side, inhale, left knee draws into chest, standing up onto the right foot, arms sweep up, warrior three, reaching the left arm forward, right arm back, a little confused, and then to warrior two, open it up, side of the mat, take a moment to land, doesn't really matter, just let it feel good, good, flip the front palm, tilt back, reverse warrior, exhale, extended side angle, just flowing with the breath, bringing that into triangle pose, sweeping left arm in front of the face and up, right hand down, good, and then strong in the legs, come up to stand, parallel the feet, face the side of the mat, and then maybe take an interlace behind the back, get into the shoulders a little bit, draw the shoulders back, heart lifts, keeping that length in the spine, folding in, prasarita, couple breaths going upside down, notice what feels good with your arms, so maybe the interlace wants to release and the hands can come down to the ankles, good, and then from here, walking the hands under the shoulders, lengthen through the spine, turn the left toes toward the back of the mat, skandhasana, bend the left knee, straightening through the right, and then we'll just take this side to side, right knee bends, left leg straight, and then back of the mat, left knee bends, right leg straight, and then coming all the way back to the front of the mat, setting up for our lizard, start to heel toe that right foot to the right a few times, hands on the inside of the front foot, maybe letting the left knee bend, again, maybe you're taking a block under the forearms and hanging out there for a few breaths, if you want that quad stretch, bending the back leg, back knee, and then reaching back with the right hand, find the foot, you know, open it up to the right side, breathe, acknowledging the difference between the right and the left, honoring that, meeting yourself where you are, and I like to, if you have that quad stretch, roll toward the front of the knee, that cushiony part, good, and then slowly releasing that as you're ready, move my block out to the side, hands on the inside of the front foot, tuck the back toes, lift the back knee, step back, downward facing dog, good, coming forward into plank pose, lowering halfway or all the way down, maybe, and then finding cobra, bhujangasana, take your time as you press back into downward facing dog, and let's take a slow walk to the front of the mat, finding malasana, taking the feet as wide as the mat, toes out, heels in, I'm going to slide a block under my sitting bones, just because it feels good, and take a moment, maybe hands to heart, and deep into the hips, and these brief pauses between the movement to just check in, notice what's coming up for you, how's your heart, beautiful, and then taking your time, let's take this into a nice wider leg fold, so parallel the feet, straighten the legs any amount, let everything just kind of melt down, maybe sway a little side to side, let it feel good, and then slowly make your way up to stand at the front of the mat, we're going to take a few more balancing poses here, stepping the feet together or about hips distance, and we'll start by coming into chair pose, utkatasana, bend the knees deeply, arms sweep up, good, and then pick up the right foot, cross your ankle on top of the left knee for temple dancer, find that figure four shape in your balance, good, let the hips sink back, maybe hands to heart, or sometimes it's nice to take the thumb and the index finger together, three fingers spread wide as you find your balance here, beautiful, and then knee to chest, stand up tall on the left leg, transition warrior three, so right leg back, we've been playing with this for a while, just a transition into crescent pose, so letting the right toes find the back of the mat, you're always welcome to lower that right knee down, I think I'm going to do that, or you could stay on the ball of the back foot, and we'll sweep the arms up, as you exhale, reach the right arm forward and the left arm back, so opening the chest up to the left, good, and then I'm actually going to tuck my toes, lift the back knee, come up into crescent, exhale right arm forward, left arm back, so keeping it fluid, one more, inhale, sweep the arms forward and up, exhale right arm forward, left arm back, and let's hang out here, draw the right elbow to the outside of the left thigh, prayer twist, good, and again, feel free to ground down through that right knee, sometimes I find if I do that, I can get into the twist a little bit deeper, find the breath, beautiful, big full breath in, gaze down, hands frame the front foot, pyramid pose, step the right foot in and to the right a little bit, letting everything just melt down over that front leg, torso drapes down, left hip draws back, right hip draws forward, pressing the soles of the feet to the earth, crown of the head melting, good, and then step your right foot to the front of the mat and meet the left and just slowly make your way up to stand, rolling up, letting the shoulders come up towards your ears for a moment, maybe take some circles with your shoulders in one direction and then the other, shake out the hands, and we'll set up for the second side, so as you're ready, coming back to chair utkatasana, arms sweep up, good, and then this time pick up the left ankle, cross it on top of the right knee, figure four shape with your legs, maybe draw hands to heart, find that mudra, find your gazing point, love this because it's a hip opener and we're playing with our balance which really is just practice and presence, as soon as our mind enters, the pose goes away and you fall out of it, at least I do, okay, stand up tall, draw the left knee in to your chest, arms sweep up, warrior three just to transition, good, and then crescent pose, left toes find, back of the mat, you're welcome to lower the back knee down, arms sweep up, and then this time left arm forward, right arm back, open the chest to the right side of the mat, good, the inhale brings you back through centre, exhale, left arm forward, right arm back, maybe gaze to the right, inhale, sweep the arms up, exhale, left arm forward, right arm back, hook the left elbow to the outside of the right thigh, maybe lower the back knee, and then take your time to breathe, breathe into the shape, find your edge which changes every time we show up to our mat, practice is going to be a little different from last time, or a lot different, good, and then gaze down, hands frame the front foot, and then pyramid pose, step the left foot in and to the left, draw the right hip back, letting everything just melt down over that front leg, press into the ball of the right big toe, breathe, breathe to release, to let go, and then step the left foot forward to meet the right, forward fold, slowly roll up, coming to stand at the top of the mat, take some circles with the shoulders in one direction, the other direction, and just take a moment to pause here, to breathe, to check in, noticing how you feel, feeling the heartbeat, notice the sounds around you, nice, and then take your time, we'll move through vinyasa, inhale arms, sweep out and up, lengthen through the spine, reach up through the fingertips, exhale, forward fold, inhale, lift halfway, lengthen, plant your palms, step or lightly float back, chaturanga, inhale, cobra or up dog, exhale, lower the knees, tuck the toes and sit back on your heels for a moment, if that doesn't feel good, you could untuck the toes and sit back on your heels, or maybe you even sit on a block, you could take the block between the ankles and sit there, and so we're gonna set up for a couple rounds of camel pose, heart opener, so I'm tucking the toes, I'm gonna stand up tall on my knees, knees are about hips distance, and then bringing the hands to your lower back, you could either have the fingers facing up or down, just supporting the sacrum, good, and then draw the elbows back, and let's just start by lifting the sternum, so it's like you had a string from the sternum all the way up to the sky, you can lean back a little bit, maybe gaze up, again, just playing with your edge, notice where you wanna stop, wanna be at a place where you can breathe deeply, let the breath be the guide, good, and then to come out of there, just simply sitting back onto the heels, take a moment to land, camel for me specifically brings up a lot in that throat chakra area and heart space, it's a big, big vulnerable for me, heart opener, just notice how does that land for you, we'll take one more round of camel, so standing up on the knees, maybe tuck your toes, support the low back, hug the elbows in, sternum lifts, try to keep the hips over the knees, and then maybe there's the invitation to reach back and find your heels, good, keep reaching up through the sternum, the gaze, find that expansive breathing, good, and then coming out the same way we came in, support the low back, lift from the core and then sitting back on the heels, take a moment to pause and breathe, observe, become the witness, all that's occurring, alright, so as you're ready, let's take the weight off to one side, bring the legs out in front of us, sitting up for hip opener, I'm gonna take double pigeon, you might take single pigeon, you might take sukhasana, just gonna see where you're at today, so if you're coming into double pigeon with me, I'm gonna cross my right ankle, just on top of that left knee, just like kind of what we did with a figure four shape and the balance, flexing both feet, the right knee starts to melt down toward the left ankle, there's a big space there, it might feel good to stick a block in there, love props, they're there to guide us, to help us find the shape, good, and then you could sit up tall or maybe walk your hands forward, wiggle into your hip stretch, maybe close the eyes, shifting the gaze inward, tracking breath, so now about five more full deep breaths on this side, and this for me is pretty deep hip opener, so just taking your time to slowly make your way out of that side and take the legs out in front of us with the soles of the feet on the earth, hands behind, fingers face toward you or out to the sides a little bit and then pressing up into reverse tabletop, so open up the front of the body, big full breath in, maybe stick out the tongue, lion's breath, good, and then slowly let your hips sink down and we'll set up for the second side, if you're coming into double pigeon, I mean the right knee come down, taking the left ankle just in that little cushiony spot above the right knee, maybe there's a block here, letting that left knee melt down toward the right, so you're stacking the shins, some people call this fire log, kind of makes sense, fire log pose, good, and then take your time to meet yourself, to meet your edge.

Breathing in, I'm aware that I'm breathing in, breathing out, I'm aware that I'm breathing out, breathing in, breathing out. Whole more full, deep breaths, conscious breaths. Again just taking your time, slowly making your way back up, then stretch your legs out in front of you this time, you're welcome to stay with reverse tabletop otherwise maybe the legs straighten, bring the hands behind the back, fingers facing in towards you or slightly to the side and then lifting the hips, start to let the toes melt down toward the earth, heart lifts, gaze lifts, good, big full breath in, exhale, hips lower, start to crawl your hands forward, taking a moment in Paschimottanasana, forward fold. Take your time as you inhale, come on up, roll onto your back, take your right knee with you into the chest, give it a squeeze and then start to draw the right knee across the body coming into twist, reach the right arm open to the right and that right knee draw down, just wringing it out and let that right shoulder melt a little bit more, softening the eyes, jaw, left shoulder crackling for me, love these twists, it's like a natural adjustment, good, and then slowly come back to center, we'll step the soles of the feet to the earth, lift the hips and then just gently place them back down on the earth, good, and then stretch the right leg long this time, hug your left knee into the chest, give it a squeeze, good, and then with your right hand, gently draw the left knee across your body, reaching the left arm open to the left, softening left shoulder, right shoulder, wringing it out, couple more full deep breaths, good, and then take your time to sit down, slowly unravel again, bringing the soles of the feet to the earth, lift the hips and softly place them back down on the earth, step the feet as wide as the mat, let the knees knock into touch, maybe dry hands to belly or one hand to heart, one hand to belly, feel the fluidity of the breath beneath your hands and just taking a moment to center, good, and then you have a block nearby, just gonna grab my block and take it under the very low back, so coming onto the back, sliding the block under the sacrum, lifting the hips, I'm gonna take it to the lowest height, you might have it on the medium height and then from here, supported bridge, bring the palms to face up, let the shoulders soften down the back and you could stay right here in supported bridge, actually gonna shift this to the second height or start to draw the knees in toward your chest and you can take the legs straight up to the sky for supported shoulder stand, feeling that reverse flow of blood, of energy, getting upside down, restorative inversion, you don't have a block, maybe you're just taking legs up the wall, allowing a few more breaths here, noticing any sensations in the palm of your hands and then slowly, gently releasing feet to the earth and switching the block to the lowest height, I'm gonna stretch both legs long on the mat, so maybe one at a time if it's too intense to stretch both of them long, just find that opening in the psoas so like the front of your hip points can bring palms to face up, draw shoulders down the back, maybe close your eyes and just breathing here for a few full deep breaths, start to walk the soles of the feet back to the earth, bending through the knees and then lifting the hips just enough to slide your block out to the side, lower down, reach arms up over the ears and then just start to windshield wiper knees side to side, releasing here anything that you need to let go of, any stuck energy, good, coming back through center, hug knees into chest and rock a little side to side, massaging through the lower back and then maybe take the knees in circles in either direction, notice how that would feel and just checking in, is there anything else that you need here to feel complete in your practice, honoring that, otherwise hugging both knees in will wrap the forearms around the shins, curling up into a tight little ball, nose to knees, allowing a big full breath in here, holding breath up at the top, sip in a little bit more air and then release and sigh everything out, stretching legs long on the mat and as we move into the shape of shavasana, just a little breathing practice here, we're gonna breathe in to the belly, the ribs, the heart space, three-part breath and then exhale opposite heart, ribs, belly, inhale belly, ribs, heart, exhale heart, ribs, belly and a few more times on your own, your rhythm of breath, your own unique rhythm and letting go of any effort in the breath, the body, the mind, allow yourself to slide into shavasana. Let's go.

Breathing from the tips of the toes through the crown of your head. Inviting any gentle movements back in. Maybe reaching your arms up over your ears, point through your toes. Grow long, big full breath in. Exhale.

Release, gently making your way up to seated. You might just rock up or make your way over to one side and we'll find our comfortable seat. And then maybe draw one hand to heart, one hand to belly in this second chakra area, the sacral chakra, this element of water. This place of literally life force, creativity, birth. And just acknowledging yourself for showing up for you today, for doing your practice. Thank you so much for being here, for joining me. Hope to see you soon. Namaste.