Moksha: Connect to Spirit

Namaste. Welcome to practice. This will be our Moxtra action practice, and The idea with this one is to feel light and free and open and connected. So let's get started. Rub your palms together.

And we're taking our hands into Yanamudra. So index fingers come to the first knuckle of the thumb, The rest of the fingers can just spread out. You can place that upright on your thighs. Palms turned upward. Lengthen the spine.

If you're comfortable closing your eyes, close your eyes, and we'll chant the sound of all and breathing in. Give yourself a full breath in. And a full breath out. And then we're gonna move right into Kapala Bhati breath. So this is a bra the word kapalibati translates into skull shining breath.

This is to get the energy moving from the lower chakras towards the higher chakras. Here, we're kinda aiming for that 7th chakra sahasrara chakra. 1000 petaled lotus. It just opens us up to the divine and to inspiration. So we'll start, contraindications for Kapalabazzi.

If you're pregnant. If you're on your menstrual cycle, are you just eight? Are you feeling a little overheated or anxious? Are you struggle with headaches or migraines or any affliction of the eyes, you'll skip the kapalabati and just keep your breath nice and long and smooth. Ujai would be a good one here. Otherwise, let's get started.

We're gonna do a 108 Kapala Bazi, take a full breath in, exhale it away. Inhale halfway and begin. The last 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, deep breath in, retain it at the top, and exhale it away. Hold it out at the bottom. And the next breath is there when you need it.

So breathe in and breathe out. Good. And then you can release your mudra. Give your legs a little bit of a shake out. We're actually gonna come right up to stand and bring some blocks with you for this one. So we're gonna be doing some Syria Nam scar with hands on blocks. And I just find when I use the blocks underneath my hands for Syria, It just gives me a bit more lightness and lift.

So you'll take your blocks and you can place them right outside of your feet towards the front of your space. About shoulder width apart. Lowest height is nice here, and you wanna take it so that the short end is more towards the front of piece and then find your Tedasana right in between your blocks. Hands can come to your chest, Give yourself a moment there to get centered in your tedasana. Such a simple and powerful pose here. Get yourself grounded, fill your roots reaching down, your crown reaching up, you know, and then you've got your instrument in between to work with.

And we'll move into our surya. And he'll reach your arms up. And on the exhale folding forward come down over your legs, and your hands can come right onto your blocks there. On the inhale, length in the spine, look forward. You can come up onto the tips of the fingers. On the exhale, soften your knees, look forward and hopper step your feet back, Chaturanga Dandasana. Coming over the tops of the feet, upward facing dog, press the blocks down, lift the chest up, tuck your toes, lift your hips, downward facing dog, and then we'll breathe right there.

Inhale. Exhale for 1. Inhale. Axhale for 2. Inhale. Exhale 3.

Keep pressing the hands down, lifting the hips up for 4. Study the gaze right between the big toes, and that's 5. Lift up your heels. Look forward. Remember your hands around blocks?

You don't need a lot of momentum. Bend your knees and hop or step your feet forward and fold forward into your legs. Rising all the way back up with your breath in, look up, arms by your side's breath out. Again, inhale lifting up. And on the exhale folding forward hands onto your blocks, inhale, send the chest forward, look forward, bend the knees, hop, or step, Chaturanga, upward facing dog, legs reaching up, chin up, head up, tuck the toes, lift the hips, downward facing dog, and breathe, inhale.

Excel 1, inhale. Axcel 2, fingers and toes spread here. Feel your connection to the ground as well for 3. Inhale. Exhale 4.

Inhale. Exhale 5. Lift up your heels, bend your knees, look forward, hop or step your feet forward, and fold into your legs. Rising back up with your breath in, arms by your side's breath out last time like this, inhale reaching up, exhale to fold forward. Hands on your blocks, lift your head, look forward, plant the palms, hopper step, Chaturanga.

Upward facing dog, drag the hips forward, lift the chin, tuck the toes, downward facing dog, and we breathe, inhale. Excel 1. Inhale. XL 2. Inhale. Study your breath in and out through your nose.

Oojai pranayam. That's 4. Inhale. Exale for 5. Lift up your heels, bend your knees, look forward, hop, or step, and fold forward into your legs. Rising back up with your breath in, arms by your sides with the breath out, uttkatasana, bend the knees, reach up through your arms.

Bring your hands down to the ground and then straighten out your legs. Look forward, set up, exhale hopper step, Chaturanga. Rising up to breath in, tucking back to breath out, and then we'll flow. Lift your right leg up. Stepping forward, spin the back heel down to come up Warrior 1.

Inhale to straighten out your right leg. Exhale opening up warrior 2, and you'll need to adjust your feet Take a longer stance to deepen the bend of the right knee. Turn your right palm up lean back peaceful warrior. Hands come down on either side of your right foot. Spin up your left heel and you're in a lunge.

Hop your back foot in slightly, straightening out both legs. Hands can stay on blocks here for a breath and parsvotanasana back heal lands, taking your forward fold. From here, blocks can move off to the side wide straddle forward fold. All ten toes turn to face the side. Craw your hands over towards your left ankle.

Both hands will catch your left ankle or shin, and then bend your right knee. And think of moving the inner right side and the inner left side in opposite directions, you'll get a nice opening down the right side body. Bring your hands back through center over towards the right ankle, catch the right ankle shin with two hands, and bend your left knee. Filling the pole down through the left side body this time. Release, release, release, walk your hands back towards the front of your space, come into a lunge hands on either side of your right foot.

Step back plank pose. Bring the legs together and roll onto your left hand and your left foot inside plank lifting up through your right arm. Hips, press forward, lean the head back, squeeze the feet together. Open up across the chest. Right arm reaches long over your ear.

Plank pose, chaturanga dundasana, upward facing dog, to downward facing dog. And then you can grab your blocks and place them back underneath your hands, get that little extra lift if you want it. Take your left leg up. Stepping forward, spin your back heel down, warrior 1. Reaching back through the inner right heel, reaching forward through the right ribs, straighten out your left leg, Warrior 2.

Big full breath out. Broad across the chest. Turn your left palm up lean back. Peaceful warrior. The hands come down to the ground to frame the left foot, placing the hands on blocks, spin up your back heel, hop your back foot in slightly, lengthening out both legs.

So my back foot is at about a forty five degree angle Left toes pointing directly forward head can drop here. Blocks can move off to the side, and you'll turn to face The right side of your mat wide straddle forward fold hands, crawl over towards the right ankle or shin, bend your left knee. Coming back through center, hands over towards the left ankle or shin, bend your right knee. Coming back through center, Hands back to the front of your space coming into a lunge, hands on either side of your left foot, and step back plank pose. Bring your legs together.

Rolling onto your right hand and right foot, side plank, lift up through your left arm. See if you can hike the left hip up a little higher, contract the right side body, left arm over your ear. One more breath. Blank pose. Lifter head look forward. Chaturanga.

A poured facing dog to downward facing dog. Hands can come back on block or not, let's move with this, right leg up. Stepping forward, back heel spins down, warrior 1. Straightening out your right leg, open up warrior 2 right away. Lean back to peaceful warrior, full breath in.

Hands down on either side of your right foot, spin up your left heel, you're in a lunge, hop your left foot in slightly, parsvotanasana, Both legs lengthened in your head will bow. All ten toes turn to face the side. Walk your hands towards the left ankle, bend your right knee. Back through center, catching your right ankle, Bend your left knee, back through center, walk your hands over towards the front of your space, come into a lunge, step back, plank pose, rolling onto your left hand and left foot, side plank, lifting up through your right arm, Push the left fingertips down. Reach the right arm over your ear.

Lift your right leg this time. Down dog split, right leg up, step right through and come into a lunge, standing split, push off your left leg, and drop your head. And then this is a fun variation if you're feeling it. Take your right hand to the back of your right calf use your right hand to lift your right calf up. Like, literally tug the muscle up towards the back of the knee. And then try taking your left hand to the top of your right foot and press down. So you get those opposing energies upward and downward and tuck your left knee coming right down into Artemancy and Jossanha ceded spinal twist.

Give yourself a moment to land here. And if this bothers your left knee at all, you're welcome to straighten your left leg out long in front of you. And then we'll take our twists around. So you can hug the right knee in towards you, turning towards the right. If there's a different grip that you like, it could be elbow outside the thigh.

Looking back over your right shoulder. Full breath in. Twist a little deeper with your breath out. Keeping the spine as long as possible. Press into the right hand.

Get a little longer, a little more lifted with your breath in. Twist a little deeper with your breath out. Counter twist opposite direction. And lift your arms and legs up. Navasana. So here, if you need to back hold on to the back of the legs, you can do that or knees can stay bent, or legs go long.

You can release the thighs and turn the palms up, lift the gaze, Find your breath even here, even through the intensity. Breathe deeply. And then we're gonna roll back. Halasana, hands can come down. Feed overhead. Rock your way up, crossing your ankles, hop, or step your feedback, and take yourself through your vinyasa.

We'll try the left side, reach your left leg up, step it forward, spin your back heel down, warrior 1 come on up, inhale to straighten out your left leg, exhale opening up warrior 2. Turn the left palm up, peaceful warrior, full breath in, flow with it hands to the ground, coming into a lunge, hopped your back foot in slightly straightening out both legs. All ten toes turn to face to side. You're in your prosari to hands over towards the right ankle, bend your left knee and lengthen it back out. Hands over towards the left, bend your right knee, lengthen it back out.

Back through center, and then your hands will come back towards the front of your space. You're in a lunge hands on either side of your left foot. Step back plank pose. Rolling onto your right hand and right foot side plank lifting up through your left arm. Left arm can come over your head, lift the left leg, down dog split left leg up, step in between your hands, standing split, push off your right foot, use the exhalation drop ahead. And then if you liked that variation, your left hand will come to your left calf muscle and your right hand to the top of your left foot, press pressing down as you lift up.

One more breath in. Breath out. Full breath in and on your breath out. Bend your knees. Tuck your right knee.

Come on down. Are the mozzie and Joceana's seated spinal twist. Give enough room with your right heel that your left sit bone can land there. And then we'll take our twists around towards the left. And left elbow can come outside of left thigh, or you hug the left thigh in, taking your twist, full breath in, ring it out.

Again, breathing in. Connect to it. Inhale. And exhale. Counter twist opposite direction. Nevasana.

Lift your arms and your legs. Reaching up through the hands, tip your head back. You know, it's so beautiful that in our arsenal practice, devotion is built into the Asana. So it brings us back to intention over and over and over again. One more breath.

Rolling back, plow pose, legs overhead. Rocking up, cross your left ankle over your right, hop or step your feedback, chaturanga Dundasana. Erd Vamukha Sanasana, push the hands down, lift the chest, tuck the toes, auto mukha Sanasana downward facing dog. Drop your knees and come to find your virosna. So knees are all the way together.

Feet or apart, and you're sitting in between. If that feels like too much on your knees, you grab a block, and you sit on a block. And once you've found your virasana, take a couple of breaths there. Hands can come back into Yanamudra and rest on your thighs. Your eyes might close.

Just reconnect. And then you've got some options here. Suresasana, a, headstand, If you are not taking hudstand as part of your practice today, you're welcome to stay in your virasana, and maybe it's another of Kapalabati, a 108 times, or you stay with long, smooth breathing. Otherwise, I'll talk you through it. Come forward onto your forearms and your knees. I like to catch my elbows just to check-in if the elbows are not wider than the shoulders, interlace the fingers in front, tuck the toes under lift the hips up, coming into a down dog on the forums and begin to walk the feet forward.

And when I can't walk the feet forward anymore, then head comes down, elbows press in, and I'm coming up into, like, a little ball, right, squeezing my knees in towards my chest and working to get my hips over my head. From their legs lengthen up into sausana, a, had stand. And remember, this is quite an active pose for the lower body, Sometimes we forget that because the the work of the shoulders and the arms and the core, can feel, very important as we come up into hot stand, and it is. And the more we think of reaching up through the legs, and closing in on the midline, the more stable we're gonna feel as we're up. So it's a full body pose.

Really all, you know, all the poses are full body poses. There's awareness. My teacher, Doctor Swoboda, he always says, where awareness goes prana follows. And we want our body to be full of life force, full of energy. You've got a last couple of breaths here.

If you came down a little early, your rest in child's pose. Coming back out of it the way we came in. So bend your knees. Allow your knees to fold in towards your chest. Try to keep your hips high.

That'll ease the descent a bit. And then gently lowering the shins back down. Take a breath in your child's pose. Can free up the hands, wiggle the fingers. Taking hands and make your shoulders roll yourself up.

And blanket under your hips, we're gonna meet on the belly. If you've been in Verastena this whole time, in fact, let's all do this together. You'll step your right leg back, tuck your right toes under push a little forward and back. Right knee comes down, left leg steps back, push a little forward and back. Left knee comes down.

Hands pressed down plank pose. Lift the head look forward and lower all the way down to your belly. Reaching your arms back, lift up through your head, and your chest, and your leg for Shah Labasana squeezing the shoulder blades together in her lines of the legs lift. And release yourself down. Can rest your head on your hounds.

Could feel good to swing the hips a bit from side to side. One more time. Arms reach back. Lift up through your head and your chest and your legs for shalabhasana. This time either you're staying there or bend the knees, catch your ankles, and come up into done your asana. Now for this, try to keep your knees and your feet a bit closer to each other, even if that means that you don't come up as high.

Alright. It's a little safer for your lower back. One more breath in. Exhale it away. Extend everything back out to Shalabasana. And lower yourself down.

Head on your hands. Easy swing of the hips. And take your hands underneath your shoulders and push yourself back, come up to sit. You can slide your blocks out of the way here. And we're gonna set up for Salamba Sarvangasana.

Shoulderstand. It's the queen of the poses. Headstand is the king. We'd balance out the king with the queen. So you'll take your blanket.

It's about a third of the way from the front of the space with the smooth end towards the front. Spin around to lie down. And when I lie down, my shoulders are on the edge of my blanket. And my head and about half of my neck are off the blanket. From here, I'm coming into a plow pose.

So we hinted at that earlier in the practice, legs come over the head. You can interlace your fingers behind your back. Take your hands up towards the upper back, lifting one leg at a time into Salumba Sarvangasana. Such a good pose. It's cooling. It's calming.

It also compresses the neck a bit. So it gives support to thyroid function. And if for some reason you're not taking shoulder stand, This could also be legs up the wall in Viparita Karani, or you might do a restorative Viparita Karani, staying in the middle of your space with a block on the lowest widest setting underneath your bum, And then you lift your legs up and you take your shoulders down that way. We've got about one more minute here, see if you can breathe deeply. Last few breaths. You'd like to close your eyes or take any variations with your shoulder stand.

You're welcome to do that. And then gently, Bring the legs back over your head, coming back into plow. If your feet touch the ground and to release the fingers behind the back, if your feet are off the ground, keep your hands on your upper back for more support. And then everyone hands down. Slowly roll yourself out.

You can use the hands. To slow the descent. Legs come all the way down to the grounds. Give yourself a breath. And then pressing your elbows down.

Dig in with your elbows. Pop up through your chest. Lay your head back coming into matsayasana Fish pose, drawing the shoulder blades in towards each other. Palms can turn up here. Full breath.

And then press into the elbows, tuck the chin into the chest. Release yourself back down. Just taking a breath. Hands can come back on to belly. And then you'll slip your blanket out from underneath you.

Could be nice to fold the blanket into a little pillow for your head, and we'll come right into our shavasana. And it it always feels organic just to give one last big breath out come into Shavasana, and then let your breath settle into a more subtle pattern. No longer have to control it. Our moksha practice is about feeling connected, to something bigger than ourselves, you know, and when there's doubt and doubt is part of the practice, And there's doubt. The breath is there.

He's such a great teacher. Life Force is still moving through. We're still being breathed. And let your next breath coming a bit more deeply. Exhail it away.

Gental movements with your fingers and toes. Walk the soles of your feet in and place them on the ground. Rolling onto your side, press into your hands. Come on up to sit. Find your way back into your seat.

One more time. Index fingers by. In towards the thumbs, Yanna Mudra, Mudra of Wisdom, the recognition, individual bowels to the universal. Connecting to all. And we'll close with the sound of the 7th Chakra, the sound of ohm breathing in. Thank you so much for sharing your practice.

Namaste.