Kama: Tune In to Joy

Namaste. Welcome to practice. This will be our comma practice. Comma means pleasure. So this is a practice for you to just feel good in your body and your mind moving into the area of the hips and the heart.

Let's get started. Rub your palms together. And take your hands into Anjali Muja right at your chest. Press your thumbs into your sternum and roll your shoulders back, give just a little more amplification to the area of the chest, support it with the side waist and feel the hip creases deepening as the thigh bones drop. We'll chant the sound of ohm just wants to start breathing in.

And take a full breath in and exhale it away. Good. And then if your eyes are closed, you can open them up. And right away, stretch your arms out super wide, open, lean forward. And on the exhale, give yourself a hug, wrap your arms around you, drop your head in. Couple more like that, breath of joy, inhale, opening up.

And exhale folding in twice more inhale open up and exhale fold in One more time. You can even look up as you do this inhale lift up and exhale round the spine and drop the head. And then take your hands back behind you and bring the soles of your feet down to the ground a little wider than your hips. Fingers can be behind you turn the fingers out to the sides to open up the chest and shoulders, dig in with your heels and lift your hips up and come into, like, a reverse tabletop. Wrap your shoulder blades in towards each other, press the back of the hard up look up at the ceiling, take a full breath in, Open your mouth, breathe it out. Release your sit bones back down and then change the crossing of your legs.

Again, breath of joy, inhale, open up the arms, and exhale fold in, and inhale open. And exhale fold in. So you're rocking back and forth on the sits bones twice more inhale. And exhale last time inhale and exhale. One more time, hands back behind you.

Soles of the feet to the ground coming back into the reverse tabletop, dig in with the heels, push up through the hips, open the chest, head looks back right at the ceiling, open up the gaze, breathe in, Open your mouth, breathe it out. Release your sit bones back down. If you're sitting on something, you can slide it off to the side. And come over your crossed ankles right onto your hands and your knees, or you can swing your legs around. And then once you've gotten there, spread your fingers out nice and wide, knees under hips, wrists, under shoulders on the inhale arch, your spine come into your cow pose.

And on the exhale pressing back into child's pose, sink your hip back to your heels. Let your spine round and your head bow. And then we'll move back and forth with that a little bit. Inhale arch the spine. Let the belly drop. Tailbone lifts, and on the exhale rounding the spine, chin into chest child's pose.

Last two inhaling and arching. Exhale round. One more inhale arch and exhale round. Come back onto your hands and your knees and tuck your toes, lift your hips, pressing back downward facing dog. Once you get there, pedal around in your feet, check-in with what's happening with the back body today.

And if you're lower back and your hamstrings are feeling like they need more space, perhaps take the feet a little wider in your downward facing dog and see if that gives you the room to open up the back body. Give yourself a breath or 2 in your down dog reaching down through the heels, lifting up through the hips, heart above the head. Stretch your right leg up into the air. Bend the knee and open up your hip. Stretch your right leg back up and step your right foot outside of your right hand.

So you're coming into a bit wider of a lunge. You can turn your left fingertips out to the left and open up your right arm coming into a twist. One big circle, reach your right arm towards the back of your space, down towards the ground, reach it forward and swing it right back up, just getting a little bit of movement, synovial fluid into the shoulder, And then your back and your twist, lean the head back. Open up. Let it feel good. Right hand comes down.

Step back plank pose. Drop your knees, child's posts, hips back to heels, head comes down. From here, look forward and slide onto your belly, cobra with your breath in, extending the legs back, lifting through the chest and the head. Lower right back down and move through bent knees to downward facing dog. So keep it soft and fluid.

Lengthening the legs and dropping the head. Left leg reaches up. Bend the knee. Open up your hip. Working to keep the torso a bit more even here so the twist is happening below the waist. Structure left leg back up.

And step it outside of your left hand. Come back into your wide lunge. Right fingertips can turn out to the right, lift your left arm up and twist. Lean back into it. And then one big circle left arm reaches towards the back of your space, down towards the ground, reach it way out in front of you, big circle back up towards the ceiling, lean back, clear some space for the throat, tip the chin away from the chest.

Left hand comes back down, plank pose, Drop your niece, child's posts. Big toes come together. Knees can be wide. Look forward. COBRA.

Full breath in sliding onto your belly. Legs reach back long, lower right back down onto your belly and move through bent knees, downward facing dog. And start to walk your feet forward one step at a time, and you can bend your knees as much as you need to here. And this could be quite a leisurely walk. Like, there's no rush. Once you get towards the front of your space, take your feet pretty wide, turn the toes out slightly, and come down into a squat.

Taking hands to heart, use the backs of the arms to open up your thighs. And if this is feeling like a lot on your ankles, knees, and hips, You're always welcome to grab a block, and you can sit on a block here. Just give yourself a couple breaths. And then hands come down. You'll lengthen out the legs and turn your toes in parallel keeping your feet wide.

Soften the knees, tuck the chin into the chest, and begin to roll your way up, pressing the feet down, Once you've arrived, big sweep of the arms up with the breath in. Take it all in and bring it right back to the heart in Angeli Muja. And, again, give yourself a breath there. Reconnect over and over and over again. From here, soften the knees.

Push off and bring your right knee up towards your chest and just give it a squeeze. Cross your right ankle over your left thigh like a figure 4, take your hands back to your chest and just start to come forward, bending the left knee, Right leg stays in that figure for tailbone moves back, shoulder blades stay together, pushing into your left foot, come on back up, lift the arms, lift your right knee up, and step your right foot out kinda wide of your left. Push off and bring your left knee up in towards your chest. Give it a squeeze with your hands. Cross your left ankle over your right thigh like figure 4 hands to your heart and start to come forward. Bending your right knee.

Tailbone moves back, chest forward. Press into your right foot and come on up, reach the arms, lift the left knee, and step your left foot down kinda wide. If your right catch your right wrist with your hand side bend over towards the left. Full breath in there. Full breath out.

Inhale your way up, and exhale take it right over to the other side, catch your left wrist, side bend to your right. Breathing in. Feet stay bright here. Knees can stay soft, unlocked. Inhale your way back up.

Exhale soft knees. Pull your left knee up into your chest. Give it a squeeze. Cross your left ankle over your right thigh like figure 4. Take your hands to your hearts. Coming forward, wobbling if you need to, and then you'll come right back up, reach the arms up, lift the left knee, Step your left foot down wide of your right, pushing off right knee into the chest, cross your right ankle over your left thigh, hands to your chest, Coming forward, rising back up, reach the arms, lift your right knee, and step your right foot down wide of your left.

Catch your left wrist side bend to the right. Inhaling up, exhale, take it over to the other side. Inhaling back up. Exhale, soften the knees and again, bring your right knee up into your chest. Give it a squeeze.

Cross your right ankle over your left thigh. Figure 4. You know this part coming forward. Tailbone reaches back. Push down into your left foot, lift your way back up, right foot steps wide, left knee comes up. Cross your left ankle over your right thigh, hands to your chest coming forward.

Steady gaze, easy breath, pressing back up, left knee towards the chest this time. It's warrior 3, kicking your left leg back behind you. Reach the chest forward. Bending your right knee. Let's fall back.

Warrior 1. Let the gaze follow the hands lift the head straightening out your right leg. Take your arms behind your back and interlace your fingers. Lift up to your head and your chest lean back. Bend your right knee and fold forward devotional warrior, drop the crown of the head down inside your right foot, Reaching up through your arms. From here, we're moving to warrior 2, stretch your left arm forward.

Circle it all the way up and over, bending the right knee more deeply, and you might adjust the feet into a bit of a longer stance. And if you'll notice, I'm I'm kind of moving in and out of the poses a little bit for this one, you know, as you try bending the knee more deeply, allowing the hip creases to deepen, turn the right palm up, lean back, peaceful warrior. So the sequence stays a bit more fluid. If you need to be more still, you'll do that. Bend your left knee, scandasana lunge, take your hands to your chest, use the back of the left arm to open up the left thigh, almost like a half squat.

From here, breath in, and on the breath out, switch sides. Take your Skandasana over to the other side bending the right knee, straightening the left leg. One more time, switch sides, And then crawl your hands back towards the front of your space, come back into your lunge, Hands on either side of your right foot. Look forward. Step your left foot forward to meet your right.

And fold forward into your legs. Chin to chest and roll your way up. Reach the arms all the way up, breathe in, bring your left knee in towards your chest, breathe out. Cross your left ankle over your right thigh, figure 4, hands to your chest, and you're coming forward. Push down into your right foot.

Reach your arms up. Lift your left knee. And step your left foot kinda wide of your right and bring your right leg up. Right knee in towards the chest, cross your right ankle over your left thigh, hands to your chest, coming forward. And then right back up, reach the arms up, lift your right knee, verabhadrasana 3 kicking your right leg back as level across the hips as possible.

Right toes turn down. Chest reaches forward. Warrior 1. Let your right leg land and reach your arms up. Gaze can pat go past the hands here, straight line, right from the chest, all the way up.

Lengthen out your left leg. Take your arms behind your back and interlace your fingers. Lift your head and your chest lean back. Bend your left knee. Bow your way down. Drop the head completely.

From here, you're coming to Warrior 2. Right arm reaches forward, circle it up and over, landing in your warrior too. Again, you can take a bit of a longer stance there. And there might just be a gentle pulse in warrior 2. Maybe that's the better word. Right? Like, it's not It's not about moving in and out of the shape. It's just giving it that heartbeat almost. Turn the left palm up lean back, peaceful warrior.

Skandasana lunge, bend your right knee, straighten out your left leg, flex, your left foot. And in your Skandasana, this could be higher or lower depending on what's happening with your hips today. You'll switch sides. And you'll switch sides. Hands come down to the ground, walk them towards the front of your space, come into a lunge, hands on either side of your left foot, look forward, and step your right foot to meet your left.

And fold forward chin into chest. Roll your way back up. Reach the arms all the way up. Bring your right knee up towards your chest. We're moving now.

Cross the right ankle over the left thigh, hands to your heart. Coming forward. This time, as you come back up, draw your right knee up into your chest and give it a squeeze. Reach for your big right toe with the first two fingers of your right hand, left hand, left hip, begin to extend your right leg out long in front of you any amount. Heeping the chest lifted.

Open your right leg out to the right. Utica has to pot in Gustasana b. Left arm can reach out to the left. From here, full, the right leg in tree pose. Soul of the right foot to the inside of the left thigh.

Give that a moment. Hands to heart. As you're ready, arms can reach up. Perhaps you even float the gaze up a little bit higher. Reaching up with the chest.

Turn your right knee forward. Step your foot down a little wide of your left draw your left knee up. Give it a squeeze. Vera Bedrasana 3 kicking your leg back. Left leg kicks back behind you.

Send the heel back, the heart forward, to warrior 1, Reaching up, straightening out your right leg, arms behind the back, interlace your fingers, lift up lean back, perhaps even picking up the right toes, flexing the right foot, bend your right knee and fold forward, devotional warrior. In to your warrior 2, left arm swings all the way over, deep in the bend of the right knee, peaceful warrior to the Skandasana lunge bending your left knee. Hands can come to your chaster. Hands might stay on the ground if that's better. And then switch sides, bending your right knee, and switch sides.

Coming right into extended side angle, right forearm on right thigh, or right hand to the ground or a block and stretch your left arm over your ear. Pressing into the right forearm turn the underside of the chest up a little bit. And the more you reach forward with the left arm, pull back through the left heel, open up the whole left side body. We'll take left hand to left hip. Grab a block along the way if you like to use one there for Arta Chandraasana, hopping your back foot in, lifting the left leg up.

And if you're feeling it today, Chipasana, reach back for your left ankle with your left hand, kicking through your left leg. And you can try turning the gaze up. Leaning the head back. Extend your left leg back out. Bend your knees and step your left foot a little wide of your right and fold forward into your legs, dropping your head.

And roll your way up. At the top, reach the arms all the way up. Breath in. Lift the left knee up. Give it a squeeze.

Cross your left ankle over your right thigh like figure 4 coming forward. Pushing down into the right foot. Come on, back up, left knee back into the chest, and you'll reach for the big left toe with the first two fingers of your left hand. Right hand comes to the right hip, begin to send the left leg out long in front of you, pressing down into your right foot. Pull up out of your standing leg and open your left leg out to the left.

Right arm can reach out to the right. And folds your left leg back into tree posts, sole of the foot to the inside of the thigh, Hands land at the chest again, reconnect to breath, and reach your arms up. And that slight tip up of the chest opening the face and the gaze and turn your left knee forward. Step your left foot down a little wide of your right, bring your right knee up and right into our flow, kicking back Warrior 3, Arms reach back behind you. Warrior 1.

Give that a breath and then lengthening out your left leg, hands behind the back, opposite interlacing of your fingers, flex your left foot, lift up, breathe in, devotional warrior, folding forward, breath out. And then we rebuild right back into it right arm reaches forward warrior 2, easing into a longer stance, right into peaceful warrior. Breath out is Skandasana lunge, bending your right knee. And switch to your left, little mobilizing for the hips, and switch to the right. Parsvicanassana, extended side angle forearm on thigh, Bending your left knee, right arm reaches overhead, swing the tailbone a little more underneath you, And then notice what happens to your left thigh.

Keep opening the left thigh towards the pinky side of the left foot. Head can tip back there. Fellow breath. Right hand, right hip. Walk your left hand forward.

Arta. Push off the right leg, and then you'll flex the right foot and reach back for your right ankle if you're coming into Chapasana. Kicking through the right leg. Body weight stays forward over the ball of the left foot here. Extend your right leg back out.

Bend your knees and step your right foot a little wide of your left and fold forward into your legs. Bring your feet all the way together here, Utkatasana, deep bend of the knees, reach up through your arms. Let the hips sink and take weight. Prare your hands and twist left elbow to the outside of the right thigh. See if you can deepen the bend of the knees, So the torso is a little bit more parallel to the tops of the thighs.

Come through Ootkatasana in the center. And take it right over to the other side, right elbow to the outside of the left side this time. Palms come together and turn. Rising all the way up, reach up, and it might be a bit of a backbend here. Standing backbend moment.

Open up the arms wide and dive your way down. He'll tow your feet a bit wider, come back down into your squat. And we'll check into Crowos, bringing the hands down. And if crow's not in your practice today, you're welcome to stay in your squat for a few more breaths. Otherwise, bringing the feet together, leaning the body weight forward into the tips of the fingers before you try to lift the feet. If your feet are coming off the ground, gather the feet in closer, push down into the fingertips, dome the back of the heart.

And land right back down in your squad, hence to your heart. Bringing your hands down. Slide your left leg back into a lunge. Turn your left fingertips out. Reach your right arm up, your back, and your lunge twist.

One big swing of the arm, big circle all the way up, and drop your left knee. Reaching back for your left ankle with your right hand, and you're coming into your twist. Draw the left leg in. And this one can be intense. So if you need to keep the leg long for this, you'll do that.

See if you can tug the foot in a little closer and turn the chest up hips and heart here. If you wanna add the heartbeat into it, the slight rocking, you can do that. Extend your left leg back out. Tuck the back toes under plant your palms. Lift up and slide your right shin forward.

And come right into pigeon posts. And because we're taking the forward fold, see if you can bring the right foot a little bit further forward. You know, it might not be at, like, a perfect ninety degree angle mine definitely isn't, but that's the the hip opening forward fold version of pigeon with the heel a little further away. You can come down to your forums. It might be a block under your head here.

And just give yourself a couple breaths in your pigeon pose. We did all those standing figure 4 pigeony preps. So now just let yourself drop into this for a moment. We'll take one more breath in. You could even open your mouth and breathe it out.

Walking your hands back up, Tuck your back toes under, lift up, down dog split right leg up, Beninee, open up your hip. And if you want it, flip yourself inside out rock star, lifting up. Come all the way back around, right leg up high, Step your right foot in between your hands and bring your left foot to meet it and fold forward into your legs. Utkatasana. Pryour your hands and take a twist.

Right elbow to the outside of the left thigh. This time, if you want it, right hand down, left arm reaches up. Or your hands stay together, coming back through center and right over to the other side. Left hand can come down, right arm can reach up, Back through center rise all the way up stretch the arms of high lean back. Big open.

And on the exhale folding forward, calm on down. He'll tell your feet about as wide as your mat come back down into your squat. Hands to your chest. Cropos, hands come down, walk your feet back, bring them all the way together, spread the fingers out, and tip the weight forward. Feed can come up here, gather the min, elbows move towards each other, Take your feet back out into your squat.

Hands to your chest. Hands come down, slide your right leg back into a lunge, right fingers turn out to the right, lift your left arm up, your back and your twist, one big sweeping circle with the left arm all the way back down forward and back up From here, you'll drop your right knee and reach back with your left hand for your right ankle. Drawing the right foot in closer. And it's that big twisted lizard, right, left shoulder blade can roll back And I I like to keep my right fingers turned out to the right for this just so the inner right arm can roll forward and the collarbone stay broad. Tip your head back.

Maybe close your eyes. Suppose where there's a lot of sensation, so breathe into it. And release, release, release, release, release. Left hand comes down. You'll tuck the back toes under.

Straighten out your back leg, lift your left shin, sliding it forward, right into your pigeon pose. Left hip pulls back and you'll walk your hands forward. And then a few breaths in your pigeon. And if taking pigeon on your back in a figure 4 is better for your body. You'll do that.

Otherwise, bowing forward Let the weight of your pelvis drop. Give yourself some big full breaths if you need to Open your mouth on the exhalation. You can do that. Whatever feels good. No. Because we we want that aspect of effort in our practice.

And we have to balance that out with some sweetness, with some ease. You know, ultimately, our practice is there to bring us joy. Rolling your way back up, tuck your back toes under, straighten out your back leg, down dog split, left leg moves up and through, open up the hip, bend the left knee, and flip yourself right into rock star. Left foot comes down pressing the hips up. Arms overhead.

All the way back around. This time right into downward facing dog. And roll out to plank pose. Chatteranga. Just one.

Just one in the sequence, upward facing dog. Drag the hips through roll the shoulders back. Give yourself maybe a breath in there. Open your mouth, breathe it out. Tucking the toes.

Downward facing dog. Oose your way back into it. And drop your knees. Child's pose. And you can make that sound if you'd like.

Right back into your child's pose perhaps from the Palms upward as a gesture of offering. Give yourself a breath or 2 there. We know that when we feel more joyful, that's something that we can move out into the world. And it's infectious. Joy is infectious.

Let's take Shavasana. Can cross your ankles, have a seat, stretch your legs out long, and flop yourself or write down into it. You might take a breath with your hands on your pelvis. Warmth of your own palms, feeling your breath move in and out. And then just let your arms move away.

Palms turn upward. Settle yourself in and let go. And let your next breath come in a little bit more deeply. Exhile it away. Make some little movements with your fingers and your toes.

And then, again, leisurely, leisurely step your feet down to the ground, knees are bent, Rolling over onto your right side, Press into your hands and come on up to sit. Find your way back into your seat. Let's take one more moment together. Just reconnect hands to chest. Deeper breaths.

We'll close with the sound of home, big inhale. Thank you so much for sharing your practice. Namaste.