King of the Mountain

Thank you for joining me for King of the mountain. Let's get started standing at the top of the mat. Interlace your hands out in front of you. Make sure you're feet, our hip bone distance apart or wider, flip the palms up and reach your arms up to the sky. And before we close our eyes, just drop the shoulders down, put a soft bend to the knees.

Roll your inner thighs back. And lift through the chest. Close your eyes. Let's take a big breath in through the nose. Big breath out through the mouth.

One more time. Big full expansive breath. Exhale and release. Keep the arms raised. Notice your feet, feeling your big toes to your outer heels, your pinky toes to your inner heels. Feeling that soft bend to the knees and that beautiful lift through the chest.

Just start to scan the body. Notice how it feels to feel expansive, to feel open, and the joy that is contained in that Notice any dark corners, any edges, any parts of the body where perhaps We feel self conscious. Perhaps we feel diminished. And allow yourself through this practice to just explore opening up to explore being the king of your mountain. Knowing that you are worthy of joy.

Take a big breath in. Big breath out. Inhale. On your next exhale. Bend your knees and slowly fold forward, bringing your feet slightly a bit wider, grabbing opposite elbows and just swaying it outside to side.

Shaking your head. Yes. Shaking your head. No. Releasing the arms, letting any tension, any tightness to the low back, through the shoulders, just melt off the crown of the head. Breathing into the low back, filling up the backs of the legs. Bring your hands to your shins.

Just come halfway up shine your heart forward. Exhale fold. One more time. Halfway up. Hartford, butt back. Acts helpful.

Plant your hands. Let's step back into a high plank, top of a push up, shoulders over the wrists and just pulse a little bit forward and back, forwarding back through the balls of the feet, just waking everything up. And then come back into a downward facing dog, sending your hips up and back, moving through the legs in any way that feels good. Finding that generous bend, lift your tail, draw the chest back towards the thighs. And then raise your right leg high to the sky as you inhale, exhale. Let's take the right knee to the right elbow.

Inhale the right leg high. Let's take the knee of the left elbow. We're gonna throw our right leg out for fall and triangle. Left arm, hips, heart, and belly high to the sky again, opening up to that expansiveness. And then left hand down, right leg high to the sky.

Let's step the right foot outside of the right hand. Lower your back knee down. Hands come wide. Kne fits into the armpit. Big circles and then extend your right leg. Bend the knee.

Extend the leg, bend the knee, step forward to the top of the mat, find a forward fold. Halfway up, lengthen the heart forward, exhale fold, inhale circle the arms out and up as you rise up and reach up, Exhale hands to the heart. Inhale reach up, exhale fold down, step back to plank, top of the push up. From here, roll the shoulders forward, come halfway down Chaturanga elbows in. Upward facing, splash that beautiful heart open.

Fold the hips up and back, downward facing dog, big breath in, big breath out. Inhale left leg high, left knee, left elbow tap, inhale the leg high, Left knee to the right elbow, throw the leg out, fall in triangle, right arm hips, heart, and belly high to the sky. Open the heart up. Right hand down, left leg high, downward split. Left foot outside of the left hand, lower the back knee down, hands come out nice and wide, knee fits into armpit, find your circles.

Just move through the hip joint. Straighten that left leg Bend the knee. Extend the leg. Bend the knee. Plant the hands. Step forward to the top of the mat and fold.

Halfway up inhale exhale fold. Inhale rise up. Reach up. Arms high. Exhale palms to the heart. Inhale the arms high.

Exhale, bend the knees fold. Step back into your plank. Halfway down Chaturanga, upward facing dog, shoulders back hard high, downward facing dog. Take a big breath in, big breath out. End your knees.

Let's find a little bit of a bounce. Don't worry about what it looks like, but we're gonna play with hopping to the top of the mat. Halfway up lengthen exhale fold, inhale rise, reach up. And exhale palms to the heart. Bring your feet together towards the top of the mat.

We're gonna sit in a mini chair. It's a very mini chair so that we can cross our right ankle over the left thigh finding a figure 4 chair. Find a soft gaze out in front of you, start to bend the left knee and sit down and back just a little bit deeper flexing through the right foot. Take a moment just to enjoy this nice little hip opener. Think that you're moving your heart forward.

Think that you're moving the butt and the thighs back Couple of breaths. And then we're gonna pick this right foot, right shin off the left thigh, float the right leg back warrior 3, pressing back through that right heel, moving the heart forward, from warrior 3, right foot's gonna land near the back of the mat. We're gonna move into Skandasana to the right. So right knee bends, left foot flexes, Heart shining and lifting. Hands could be down or palms could be at the heart.

Let's take Skundasana to the other side. Left knee bends. Right foot flexes, hearts reaching forward. From here, we're gonna go to the back of our mat and come up into a warrior too. So just open it up.

Soft shoulders, peaceful warrior, right palm flips up, reach it up and back, Straighten out your right leg, triangle. Reach and lengthen forward as much as you can move your hips back, Right hand's gonna find your shin. Left arm's gonna scoop up to the sky. Turn the right ribs up. Lean back.

Reach up through that left hand. Reach down through the right hand. Feel as if you're suspended here in space. Turning the lungs, the heart straight up to the sky. 3 more breaths.

And then reverse triangle. Keep the right leg extended. Right arm reaches up and back. Warrior 2, cartwheel your hands down. Downward facing dot.

Come forward into plank. Halfway down, upward facing dog, downward facing dog. Bend your knees again. Find that bounce. And we're gonna very lightly just play with jumping to the top of the mat.

Halfway up lengthen, exhale fold, inhale rise. Reach up. Exhale palms to the heart. Feed are gonna come together, put a soft bend to your knees so we find a little mini chair Left ankle this time crosses over the right. Bend the right knee Think that your knees are moving forward, your thighs are moving back, hearts moving forward into the thumbs, sit down and back just enjoy the hip opener for a moment. Now let's pick the left foot left shin off the right side.

Float the left leg back, finding warrior 3. So pressing back through the left heel, move the heart forward, Focus with the eyes, big breath in, exhale, Skandasana back towards the top of the matter. Left knee bends a right foot flexes. Hearts moving forward. Now it's condenser to the back of the mat.

Right knee bends. Left foot flexes. Warrior 2 back to the front of the mat, bring it on up, left knee on top of the ankle, peaceful left palm flips up, reach up and back, Now extend your left leg. Find the ball the left foot. Reach and lengthen forward as much as you can.

Left hand onto the shin, right arm scoops up to the sky. So moving that left hip point back turning my vision up towards the sky, reaching up through the right hand and reaching down through the left hand, opening up to that expansiveness across the chest. As I turn the left lung and my heart up to the sky. Couple more breaths. And then come on up, reverse triangle. Left arm reaches up and back.

Warrior 2, cartwheel your hands down. Find High plank. Halfway down, Chaturanga, upward facing dog, downward facing dog. Big breath in. Big breath out.

Lower the knees. Bring your forearms down. Slide the legs back. Coming into sphinx pose. So elbows are under the shoulders.

If this is bothering your low back, just bring the forms further forward. But pull the heart forward through the arms. Open up to that expansion. Collarbone spread nice and wide. Find and feel the breath.

And you're welcome to stay here. If you would like, bend your knees perhaps, and you might stay there. Or perhaps, hands come wide. We straighten the arms, finding seal pose, perhaps bending your knees here if you'd like. Couple of breaths.

Again, lifting that chest. And then exhale down. Stack your palms. Rest your forehead on your palms. Swish your hips side to side.

From here, we're gonna take half frogs, so sweet. So I want you to open your right knee, right thigh out to the side. So that right thigh is parallel to the top of the mat. You could turn your head to the right letting the left side of your head rest on your palms. Take a moment here. Connect to the breath.

Intentionally feeling and finding the breath. Moving to the belly, feeling the belly pressing into the earth, inflating our holdback, and exhaling releasing tension in the low back. Tension through the inner thighs. A couple more breaths. And then when you're ready, let's bring our right leg in.

Swish your hips side to side. Let's come up from one more back then. So we could come back into our sphinx We could bend our knees again. We could come into our seal pose pressing into our palms and perhaps bending the knees. Lifting through the chest, move the heart forward, lift the chest up.

Few big breaths here. And then release those legs down if the knees are bent. Slowly come down, stack the palms, rest the forehead on the palms, switch the hips side to side. Half frog on the left side. So open the left knee, left thigh out to the side, turn the gaze to the left, So right side of the head is resting on the hands.

And, again, come back to the breath in this moment is stillness, just feeling that internal movement. Letting all of the effort just begin to soak in. Lowing the belly to just gently press into the earth and inflate the whole back body. A couple more breaths. And then bring your left leg in.

For head back to center, switch your hips side to side. Let's press back into a child's pose bringing your knees nice and wide so you have lots of space. Sit your hips back towards your heels and extend the arms forward. And just feel the low back here, finding release, perhaps sway your head from side to side. One more breath.

And then walk your hands back towards the knees. Bring your knees in towards one another. Sit back on your heels. Just finding a very gentle twist to neutralize the spine. Reach your left arm up to the sky, left hand onto the right knee or onto the right thigh, right hand behind you.

Lift the heart out and turn gently to your right, left side of the belly to the right side. Until I shoulder drop as much as it can. And then let's inhale back to center. Right arm reaches up. Right hand gets the left knee, if possible, or the left thigh.

Left hand behind us, lift the chest, very gentle turn to the left. Right side of the belly to the left. Try to drop that right shoulder as much as you can. Two more breaths. Come back to center.

Come on to all fours. One last downward facing dog. Take a moment. Move through the legs, shake the head, drag the tail, and then slowly walk the feet forward to the top of the mat. Nice and easy. And once we're there, grab opposite elbows one more time.

Sway it out. Find a bounce. And then very, very slowly begin to roll up the spine. One vertebra at a time. Head last.

Shoulders roll at the top. Let the feet be a little bit wider chest, reach the arms up, flipping the palms up, biceps back behind the ears, arms as straight as they can be. Soft bend to the knees, lift the chest. Here we are as kings of our own mountain again. Close your eyes.

Tune in. Tap in once again to the body, to the breath, Feel the space that you have opened up through your practice. And breathe into that space, inhale. Exhale. One more time. Biggest, fullest breath you've taken so far today.

Hold the breath up at the top, lift the chest a little bit more, exhale release, Bring the arms down by your sides. Bring your palms to your heart. And bow your head in towards your heart. See your efforts. See your practice.

See yourself as that king of your own mountain and honor all of that with gratitude. Thank you for sharing your