Satya: Truth

Welcome to your practice. This will be a slow, methodical practice. Let's start right away stepping to the top of your mat. You may want a couple of blocks in the blanket for today's practice. So standing at the top of your mat, feet about hips width, bring your hands together in front of your chest and allow your eyes to close and take a couple of deliberate, intentional breaths, centering breaths as taking a moment to arrive here in this moment onto your mat.

And silently asking yourself why you're practicing and what is it that you're hoping to get out of your practice. And when you're ready, allow your eyes to open and lower your arms. As you inhale, circle your arms overhead and as you exhale, hinging from your hips, folding, you can always bend your knees. Inhale, reach your sternum away from your navel. You can slide your hands up the sides of your legs and exhale, fold.

Inhale, spread your arms out to the side, lift all the way up and as you exhale, hands to your heart. We'll do one more half sun salute. Inhale, circle your arms overhead and exhale, hinging from your hips, folding forward. Inhale, open your chest and exhale, fold. Inhale, spread your arms out to the side, lift all the way up and as you exhale, hands to your heart.

Let's add on. Inhale, circle your arms overhead and exhale, folding, uttanasana. Inhale, ardha uttanasana and as you exhale, step your right foot back into a high lunge. Take a deep, full breath in here and as you exhale, downward facing dog. As you inhale, come forward into plank pose, pausing at the top of the inhale and as you exhale, downward facing dog.

Inhale, raise your right leg behind you and as you exhale, step your right foot up between your hands. Take a deep, full breath in and as you exhale, step your left foot forward, feet hips width. Inhale, open your chest, find length and exhale, fold. Inhale, press your feet into the floor, coming all the way up and exhale, hands to your heart. One more, inhale, raise your arms overhead and exhale, fold.

Inhale, open your chest and as you exhale, step your left foot back. Take a deep, full breath in and exhale, back to down dog. Inhale plank pose, pausing at the top of the inhale and exhale, down dog. Inhale, raise your left leg behind you, exhale, step it through. You can always carry the foot the rest of the way.

Take a deep, full breath in and as you exhale, step your right foot forward. Feel free to step your feet all the way together if that works for you. Inhale, ardha uttanasana, exhale, fold. Inhale, spread your arms out to the side, lifting all the way up and exhale, hands to your heart. Adding on, inhale, circle your arms overhead and exhale, fold.

Inhale, open your chest and exhale, step into plank pose. Take a deep, full breath in and as you exhale, lower all the way down. Point your toes, inhale, low cobra and as you exhale, back to downward facing dog. And let's stay here for three breaths. Your hamstrings are tight and always bend your knees so that you can more easily lengthen your tailbone away from the crown of your head.

Now, inhale, raise your right leg behind you, exhale, step it through. Step your left foot forward, inhale, open your chest, finding length and exhale, fold. Spread your toes as much as you can. Inhale, rise all the way up and exhale, back to center. Inhale, circle your arms overhead and exhale, fold, uttanasana.

Inhale, ardha uttanasana, exhale, step into plank pose, lower all the way down. Inhale either low cobra, belly's on the floor, or deep in the cobra, belly is off the floor, but shrug your shoulders down and back. If it's in your practice, maybe you do upward facing dog. So always come back to what works for you, what is the best fit for your body. And then we meet in down dog.

Lift a little bit more weight into your fingers, align your ears with the inner upper arms. Take one more breath here. Inhale, raise your left leg behind you, exhale, step the foot forward, step your right foot forward, feet together if that works for you, inhale, open your chest, exhale, fold. What is the tendency to shift the weight into your heels? See if you can shift the weight slightly to the front of your heels.

Inhale, coming all the way up, and exhale, hands to your heart. Just take a moment, allow your eyes to softly close, reminding yourself why you're practicing. Maybe setting an intention. And then when you're ready, lower your arms, open your eyes, and we're going to add on. So inhale, circle your arms overhead, and exhale, fold, uttanasana, inhale, open your chest, and exhale, step into plank pose.

So look about a foot or so in front of your fingertips, and start to come forward with your chest. Push the ground away from you, either lower all the way down or chaturanga, inhale, cobra or up dog, exhale, down dog. Inhale, raise your right leg behind you, exhale, step your right foot up between your hands, set the back foot flat, pin the outer right hip in, and then inhale, windmill the left arm overhead coming into warrior two. Stretch more dynamically out through the left arm, gazing softly beyond the fingertips of the right hand, firm the outer right hip in as you press the left thigh bone back. Take one more deep full breath in here, and then as you exhale, right forearm on top of the right thigh, turn the palm of the left hand to face the ceiling, sweep the arm over your cheek.

So a variation of extended side angle pose, parshvakonasana, two more breaths here. Little bit more weight to the center of the back heel, press through your right heel, inhale back to warrior two, and then keeping the right knee tracking in line with the second toe, straighten your right leg and moving into triangle pose. Either hand to the side of the shin, or maybe you can reach and grab your ankle. You're always welcome to use a block underneath your right hand. Take a deep full breath in, and then as you exhale, bend your right knee, bring your hands down around your right foot and your back to the high lunge, step into plank pose.

You can choose from plank pose to move into down dog or slowly lower. You can lower all the way down, inhale cobra or up dog, and exhale down dog. Take a breath or two, inhale, raise your left leg behind you, exhale, step the left foot up between your hands, pivot the back heel down, make sure the back foot is turned in a little bit, firm the outer left hip in, and then inhale, windmill the right arm overhead coming into warrior two. So stretching a little bit more dynamically out through the right arm, looking beyond the fingertips of the left hand, firm the outer left hip in as you press the right thigh bone back, two more breaths. When you're ready, left form on top of the left thigh, turn the palm of the right hand to face the ceiling, sweep the right arm over your cheek, a variation of parsva konasana, extended side angle pose.

A little bit more weight to the center of the right heel, press strongly through the left heel, inhale back to warrior two, straighten your left leg, keep tracking the knee in line with the second toe, exhale triangle pose. So if you feel steady here, maybe turn your gaze towards your top hand, gently tucking your chin in, two more breaths. Press your feet into the floor, inhale, come all the way up, and then parallel your feet, toes pointing straight ahead, bring your hands to your hips. Take a deep full breath in, lift and open your chest, and as you exhale, hinging from your hips, coming forward, hands on the floor. I like to be up onto my fingertips, and you're going to slowly bend one knee, so I'm starting with my right knee, then I get into my left inner groin, left inner thigh, and you're going to alternate back and forth, and you're really feeling your way, feeling into the sensations of stretching.

I think it's really important when we practice to have a good sense of curiosity, noticing what happens when I do this pose, where do I feel it, and to decipher, you know, if something is painful, then backing out of the pose, something feels good, maybe explore that, even if it's a little bit of tightness. Now next time you're bending your right knee, you're going to reach your right arm up, twisting to your right, moving your left shoulder away from your left ear, and then as you exhale, bring your right hand down, and then straighten your right leg, bend your left knee, reach your left arm up. So I like to look down initially so I can feel the twist, the rotation, not only in my neck, but in the rest of my spine. And then you can alternate slowly going back and forth, feeling that nice rotation in your torso, maybe a nice opening of your chest. So when you're bending one knee and then you're twisting to that side, makes it just a little easier to open up your chest and to rotate your spine.

And then eventually coming back somewhere in the middle, walking your hands forward for a moment like you're doing down dog on your fingertips, but your legs, your hips are not moving. Just a couple more breaths here, pressing more firmly through the mounds of your big toes, one more breath, and walking your hands back underneath your shoulders, and then find your way back to the top of the mat with your hands and then back to downward facing dog. And then just to kind of cleanse our palate, let's go through a vinyasa, slowly, luxuriously plank, and maybe lower all the way down this time, inhale, cobra or up dog. And then exhale, down dog. And then please just simply walk your feet up to the top of your mat, inhale, open your chest, and as you exhale, fold.

Exhale, spread your arms out to the side, lifting all the way up, and exhale, hands to your heart. And once again, just take a couple of centering breaths, returning your attention to your intention, just simply asking yourself why you're practicing today may be more of an overall question of why are you practicing yoga. And then please go ahead, bring your hands to your hips. We'll work on tree pose, rikshasana. So the more you can spread your toes, the easier it is to balance.

We'll start balancing on the left foot, coming onto the ball of the right foot, and then from deep within the hip socket, turn your right foot and right leg out without turning your pelvis. And then either bring the foot to the inner ankle, inner shin, or maybe you can bring the heel up to the root of the left thigh. Hands to your hips is a bit more stable. You can also bring your hands together in Anjali Mudra. You can also raise your arms over your head.

So pressing the foot against the inner leg and the inner leg against the foot, gently firm your belly, front ribs in. Let's take one more deep full breath in, and as you exhale, back to standing on both feet. Shifting the weight into the right foot, coming onto the ball of the left foot. From deep within the hip socket, turn your left foot and left leg out without turning your pelvis. And then either foot to the inner ankle, inner shin, or closer to the root of the right thigh.

And then you pick the hand position that works best for you. And using the wall, it's not a bad choice, right? It's important that we work on stability, and sometimes we need the wall. So couple more breaths here. Gently firming your belly, front ribs in.

Take one more breath, pressing the foot against the inner ankle, the inner ankle against the foot. And then hands to your heart, come back to center, standing on both feet, which feels really good right now. Bring your hands to your heart, take a centering breath. So stepping back to the top of your mat, have your feet about hips width, and I'm choosing to use blocks, and I think it's a good choice for most of us, just because when we are working on the next few poses, if we can use, bring the ground up closer so that we can work on lengthening the spine, it's good. So that takes priority.

Hands to your hips, bend your knees a little bit, and step your left foot back about three and a half feet. Now what I see a lot for people that they're in a tight rope, and then it's really hard to square the pelvis straight ahead, so you may want to go a little bit wider in your stance. So press strongly through the mat of the right big toe, draw the outer right hip back, drive the left hip forward the best you can. Take a deep full breath and firm your thigh muscles, and then as you exhale, start to come forward, kind of forming a tabletop position with your back, with your torso. If you feel any discomfort, pain behind the right knee, put a little bend in the right knee.

So pressing strongly through the ball of the front foot, keep firming your quadriceps, and then go ahead and place your hands on the blocks, or if you don't need the blocks in order to lengthen the spine, maybe just cup the flow with your fingertips. So take a moment to inhale, lengthen your spine. Then take your left hand in a little closer to your right foot, hook your right thumb at the top of the right thigh, hip crease, and use your right thumb to draw the thigh bone back and pin that right hip in. Now you can keep your left hand on the block, floor to the inside of the right foot, more user-friendly, or take your hand to the outside of the foot, more classical pose, and you may realize that you can lower the block. So as you inhale, lengthen your spine, keep pressing the left thigh bone back, and as you exhale, gently hug your navel in, keep looking down, and then exhale, turn your belly and chest to your right.

The head wants to do most of the turning, so if you look down, you can find the rest of the rotation in the rest of your spine. Roll your right shoulder back, and maybe extend the right arm up, and perhaps slowly turn your gaze towards the top hand. Two more breaths here, so Paritta, Trikonasana, Twisting Trikonasana, Twisting Triangle Pose. Let's take one more deep, full breath and lengthen as you inhale, exhale, turn, reaching up and out through the top fingertips, and then just take a moment, fold over your right leg, that probably feels really good. If it feels like it's too much of a stretch, put a little bend in that right knee, maybe use your hands on the blocks, and then please step your left foot forward, feet hips width, bring your hands to your hips, inhale, coming all the way up.

Side number two, so bend your knees, step your right foot back, make sure that you turn the back foot in generously, maybe go a little wider, hands to your hips, driving that right hip forward, left hip back, take a deep, full breath and lift your chest, and as you exhale, coming forward into that tabletop position. So inhale to elongate your spine, draw that left hip back, kind of firm the sides of the hips in towards the midline, and then find your blocks, find the height that works best for you, firm your thigh muscles, inhale to elongate your spine. Now right hand, you can move it closer to the left foot, left thumb into the left hip crease, inhale, lengthen your spine, firm the outer left hip in, firm your thigh muscles. Now you can take the right hand to the outside of the left foot, keep looking down as you exhale, draw your navel in and turn, rotate to your left, roll your left shoulder back, perhaps extend your left arm up. So a couple more breaths here, inhale to elongate, exhale to turn, maybe looking up towards the top hand, and then eventually stretch over your left leg.

Move the blocks out of the way, step the right foot forward, have your feet hips width, take your middle finger, index finger, reach around your big toes, inhale, open your chest, feel free to bend your knees, and as you exhale, fold, splay the inner elbows apart. Couple more breaths here, inhale, open your chest when you're ready, exhale, find your way into down dog, and again, one last time here, plank pose, luxuriously go through the vinyasa so you can lower all the way down if you prefer, cobra or up dog, maybe stay here for one or two more breaths, dynamically stretch out through your legs, and then exhale, downward facing dog. And then coming on to your hands and knees, briefly sit on your heels to move your hips to one side to stretch your legs out in front of you. So do the best you can to get onto the center of the sitting bones, however if your hips buttocks are tight, your hamstrings are tight and or you may need to sit on a blanket or two. You're going to bend your right knee, dragging the foot back and allow the right knee to gently fall out to the side.

You could put a block underneath the right knee or a rolled up blanket. Then inhale, raise your right arm up and as you exhale, very gently twisting to your left so there's a mild twist here and then hinging from your hips coming forward, grabbing the foot or the ankle or maybe use a strap around the foot. So inhale to elongate, left fingertips are pressing down in order for you to lift and maybe turn a little bit more to the left and you can stay right here. Or you can grab hold of the ankle with both hands or the foot and folding forward. Relax your shoulders away from your ears, so Janu Sirsasana.

So just a couple more breaths here. Do know if your hamstrings are really tight, not only can you sit on a blanket but also roll up a blanket underneath your left knee so it's easier to hinge from your hips and fold. Now inhale, kind of halfway up and exhale coming all the way up, bring the knee back to center, straighten your right leg forward and then bending your left knee, dragging the foot back and let the left knee gently fall out to the side, getting onto the center of each sitting bone and then inhale, raise your left arm up, exhale, turn your belly and chest just a little bit to your right and then grab hold of the foot or the strap, inhale lengthen your spine. So taking a moment to really acknowledge, you know, what's going on in your body and if your hamstrings are tight, you know, make those modifications. And if you like, folding forward, holding the foot with both hands, Janu Sirsasana.

And with the left foot, it's almost like you're doing tree pose, you're gently pressing the foot against the inner thigh of the right leg. One more breath. Inhale coming halfway up, exhale all the way up and then manually bring the knee back to center and straighten the leg out. So next pose is Upavistha Konasana. So you separate your legs, not as far, if you can do a really giant split, you don't want to go that far, you want to be able to maybe kind of tap your toes, right?

Being right onto the center of each sitting bone, so you may need to sit on a blanket, have it so the knees and toes are pointing straight up. And for a lot of people, this is plenty sitting right here, just getting a nice stretch to the inner thighs. For some of you walking the hands forward, maybe putting a block in front of your pelvis or a bolster or a blanket where you can rest your belly on that support. Some of you may want to do the more classical position where you grab your big toes and then you start to fold forward to kind of figure out the best pose for you, right? We're all different and that's such a good thing.

So a couple more breaths. If you're really flexible, the legs will have a tendency to turn in, so do know that flexible people have a lot to work on as well. It's never boring. And then inhale halfway up, if you're folded forward, and then exhale coming all the way up, collect your legs. And then let's set up for the most luxurious pose, which is Shavasana, the reason I kept returning to my yoga class years ago.

And I roll up a blanket, firm roll, put it on medium height of the blocks, creating my own little bolster, and you swing your legs over, and then you lie down. I mean you can construct this with a bunch of pillows, you don't have to have the blocks or the yoga blanket. So making sure that you are super comfortable here. So kind of snuggling the back of your pelvis into the floor. This way of doing Shavasana is a way to more easily soften your belly and hip flexors.

Like gliding your inner gaze towards the center of your chest. So practicing staying true to yourself is a way to bring our attention to satya, which is truthfulness. Being true to yourself and your practice, and why are you practicing? What is it that you would like to get out of the practice? Now of course you are welcome to stay here for as long as you can.

This is a great way to in fact meditate. If you're ready to sit up, just place your feet on top of that support. Maybe hug your knees into your chest, thank yourself for practicing, and then eventually rolling over onto one side and sitting up. And I am so glad that you chose to practice. Thank you for practicing with me.

Have a wonderful day. Namaste.