Day 4: Gather

Hi, and welcome to day 4 gathering tender. We'll start our practice today lying down. If your low back is tender, keep your knees bent, feet on the ground. Otherwise, stretch your legs out long. So we'll begin as we generally finish in than that. Take a full breath in and sigh it out.

Take a moment to set an intention for your practice today. And once you have that gathered, if you'd like, you can join me in an opening home. Nice full breath in. In house sweep your arms up and overhead. And as you exh, how bend your knees, place your feet on the ground? Give a little coil of your abdomen in and hug your right knee to your chest.

Take your right foot, cross it past your left thigh, and then smooth your hip open. If you're at a comfortable edge here, stay here. If you can do so without aggravating the right knee, pick up your left foot, and either interlace your hands, or you can thread a strap or how well behind your leg. Breathe generously into your outer right hip, either holding the stillness or exploring a small rock side to side. Settle back center if you're in movement. And with an in house, press your heal to the sky straighten your leg, and then exhale.

Rebend your knee. Release your hands. Hug right knee to your chest and place it down. In house sweep your arms overhead, and as you exhale hug left knee into your chest. Take your left foot, cross it past your right thigh.

Flex the foot to protect your knee. Again, you can hold here. Or pick up your right foot, interlace your hands, or thread a strap behind your leg. And same thing. If you're at a purposeful edge in the spot, stay here. Otherwise, play with a small rock side to side. And settle back center in how press right heel to the sky, and exhale re binge your knee.

Release your hands, return right foot to the ground, hug left knee to your chest, bring right knee to meet at this time. Cross at your ankles, hook your hands to the back of your thighs, rock forward and back a couple times rolling out your spine. And then all the way up to seated. Make your way to your hands and your knees. Walk your hands a few inches forward of your shoulders and parallel the creases of your wrist to the top of your mat.

Glide forward. Bring your heart through your arm. And as you exhale tuck your toes, lift your knees, take your hips up and back, downward facing dog. Feel free to give a little petal of your heels up and down, easing into your hamstrings, easing into your caps, and then settle yourself back to a place of stillness. In how, lift your right leg. X. I'll knee to your nose.

Foot shoulders over your wrists. Step your right foot forward between your hands. Set your back knee down, uncurl your toes. He'll tow a right foot over to the right a few inches and angle right toes slightly off to the right. Take your right hand to your right thigh.

Shift your hips forward as you draw your navel back. Lift your chest. X, he'll turn and gaze over your right shoulder. You may stay here. If you can do so without strain, tuck your back toes under, lift your knee. Draw your navel in.

And then slowly, slowly roll to the pinky toe side of both feet, getting your IT band. Welcome length from outer hip to outer knee, and then stretch from tailbone to crown of head. Turn open through your chest reach your top hand skyward. Rotate your top arm and reach long in line with your ear. In how hand to the sky, right hand to your thigh.

Find the ball of your back foot. The base of your front foot, bring it into the midline. Step to your plank, rock forward, lower halfway, pause, set it all the way down. Reach your heart forward and up, sticking with your cobra, or you can build your upward facing dog from the earth, open your heart. Ex, I'll take your hips up and back downward facing dog.

In how lift your left leg, open your hip, put a bend in your knee. Even the length of the sides of your waist. Restrain through your leg, and then rebend it, because that's not what I meant to say. Take your left knee around to your outer left arm. Come cross to your right elbow, and then inhale take it back and through.

X. I'll knee to your nose, foot shoulders over your wrists. Step your left foot forward between your hands. Set back knee down, pat it if it's tender, uncurl your toes, heel toe, left foot over to the left, and angle your left toes slightly to the left. Take your left hand to the top of your left thigh. I'm gonna say left a few more times.

Press down to the top of your back foot. Shift your hips forward. Smooth your bum away from your waist, lift your heart. Here it comes. Turn and gaze to the left. Again, if this is your edge, stay here.

Otherwise, tuck your back toes under. Lift your knee. Take your abdomen with you. You may stay here or layer in that IT band stretch. Pivot on your back leg, like side plank, pivot onto the pinky edge of your front foot, Get long through your spine, then turn open through your heart. Rotate top arm, so pump faces the front of your space.

Reach long in line with your ear. Inhale hand to the sky, left hand to your thigh. Find the ball of your back foot. The base of your front foot. Bring your foot back into the midline.

Plant your hand, step it back to plank. Rock forward, lower halfway, brush your toes back, as you lift your heart, upward facing dog. Excel. Take it all up and back. Gather yourself in downward facing dog. Walk your hands back to meet your feet.

And once you're there, bring your fingertips in line with your toes. Draw your chest forward. If you're rounding through your back to touch the ground here, bend your knees, taking some of the strain out of the back, glutes, and or hamstrings. Grab your big toes with your two fingers and thumb. And then inhale, once again, stretch your heart forward.

As you exhale, give a pull up against the toes, hollow your abdomen and fold into self. Now if holding your toes, even with the knees bent, is creating strain or stress in the body, Instead, clasp hold of opposite elbow, choose kindness. Pardon Gustasena, hand to big toe posts. Inhale. Reach your heart straightforward. Once again, release your toes.

Bend your knees enough to get your hands down walk it forward to your plank, just setting up your proper distance here. And then lift your hips, press your thighs back, down dog. In how lift your right leg. Open your hip, put a bend in your knee. Take right knee to outer right arm.

Come Instead of a cross, rotate your right leg. So right toes angle off to the left and set your shin down. Walk your left leg back to open your hip here for single leg pigeon. Now, if you walk back and find that your cheek is hovering, wedge a prop underneath it, just to keep us in the belly of the muscle as opposed to pulling on hamstring attachment. Resist the urge to grab your foot and pull it forward that cranks your knee as opposed to opening your hip.

Smooth the top of your bum down, lift your heart skyward, broaden your chest. Exhow, fold into self. Let it all go. Maybe your head meets the earth perhaps you rested on your hands or another prop. Find the place where you feel supported.

Even as we fold sweetly into self here, keep guiding your right hip back and in, Steer your left tip slightly forward. Focus your breath to any areas of resistance, slow, and even. So gathering tender and the collecting of little pieces of things, but get the fire started. They, in and of themselves, don't create a full fire, but again, they start us on the path there. With an in house, draw your heart forward and up.

If you put a prop underneath your cheek, set it off to the side. Rock carefully to your right hip, roll a bit to your inner back thigh and grab the back of your left knee. Mindfully swing your left leg forward, crossing left ankle in front of your right. Take your hands to the back of your thigh right at the back of your knee. Press your hands against your leg, firm your shoulder blades against your back, and lengthen through your spine.

You may stay right here. If you could hold the length in your spine and do so, pick up your foot. Take your hands to the base of your foot. Try to bring your front thigh as close as you can to your chest. And then slowly, straighten through your left leg. Elongate from your tailbone all the way up to the crown of your head.

Soften the area where your neck and your shoulders meet, and then maybe invite your gaze to follow a bit skyward. Chrome Chassana, Herron's post. Take one more breath in here. Xhale. Hands to the back of your knee.

Once again, rebend your knee, reset your foot, cross your legs. Roll over your shins, plant your hands, step or float it back, Chaturanga, and through your vinyasa. Inhale. Lift your left leg. Once again, open your hip. Bend your knee. Even the length through the sides of your waist.

X how left knee to your outer left arm. Pivot on your left leg, so left toes point off to the right, set your shin down. Walk your right leg back to open your hip, uncurl your toes. Smooth your bum down, lift your heart skyward, open your chest. Check-in here if your cheek is hovering off the ground, wedge your prop underneath it so that you're level.

Spend your inner right thigh up so you're on the center top of the thigh. And as you smooth your bum down, lift your heart, maybe briefly lift your gaze, and exhale, surrender to self. Fold in. Again, if your head is hanging in space and it doesn't feel comfortable, take time to either. Rest your head in your hands, or grab a prop to put underneath your head.

What do you need? So this next few classes, we're looking at the up to practice the glaciers. And the first obstacle is a video or ignorance. There is willful ignorance, but a lot of it is just we don't know what we don't know. And so this idea of gathering, we can also think of as taking the time to Look at self, truly.

Gathering a little bit of information, watching self with interest, being the observer. Slowly peel your heart back up. Lift your chest. If you put a prop underneath your cheek, set it off to the side, and roll carefully to your outer left hip. Take your hand to the back of your knee. And draw your right foot forward, crossing right heel in front of your left ankle. Take your hands to the front of your shin, Press your hands against your shin from your shoulders against your back.

And then slip them to the back of your thigh just behind your knee. So seeing if you can close-up a bit of the space between your front ribs and the front of your thigh, you can stay here. If you can keep the length in your spine and do so, pick up your foot, maybe grab the foot. Try to keep the space as closed as you can between front of ribs and front of thigh root down. And as you inhale, straighten your leg. Notice the tendency to round back, rock a little forward on your sit bones.

Lift through your heart center. Soften the area where neck and shoulders meet. And if you can do so without wrinkling the back of your neck, lift your gaze, crown Chasana. And exhale hands to the back of your knee. Rebend your knee, reset your foot, cross at your shins, roll over them.

Plant your hands, step it back to your plank pose, glide forward in how lift or Vamukkashvanasana, and exhale. Take it back. The mukkashvanasana downward facing dog. Anker a little more through the inner edge of your hand, spin your outer arms straight back. Really press the top of your thighs back, stretching out your whole spine.

And then inhale high to tippy toes, exhale deep into your knees. Look to your hands, step, or float through to seated. Uncross your legs. Come lie down. Walk your heels a bit toward your bum.

And now bring your right leg over your left leg, tucking knee behind knee. Take your thumbs to your front hip creases press into that indent. Scoop the pit of your abdomen in as you pick up your feet. Flex your feet. You can keep your thumbs here, particularly if you have a tendency to grip through your hip flexors. Otherwise, briefly lift your head, lift your shoulders, try and grab the front of your shins as close to the top of your feet as you can manage, and then put your head and your shoulders back on the mat.

If your chin is tilting up to the sky, feel free to grab your blanket and place it underneath your head like a little pillow. K? Press your shins up against your hands as you press down with your hands. And try to get the shin so that they're about parallel to the floor. Take one more full breath in this place of resistance, and then exhale Allow the heels to draw in a little bit closer to your outer hips and breathe. So ignorance is the root of all the other obstacles that follow.

The antidote knowledge. Right. So a lot of the things that bring up ego that bring up attachment, aversion, or fear, stem from just a simple lack of understanding. In how press your heels up to the sky, bend your right knee, put the right foot on the ground, and now cross your left leg over your right Once again, take your thumbs to your front hip creases, coil your abdomen in, and bring knees toward your chest. Flex your feet. You can stay here.

Or take hands to the top of the shins near the front of your ankles. Resist up with your shins and down with your hands. Trying to find that place where your shins are about parallel to the floor. And then, x, how relax the resistance and draw your heels a little closer to your outer hips. Focus your breath wherever you're feeling the resistance, the slow down.

And in how heels back up to the sky, x, how give yourself one last squeeze, and then set your left foot down. Set your right foot down. As you set yourself for Shavasana, I all of the hip openings, sometimes it feels nice to finish in a more internally rotated pose. So take your feet as wide as your mat, Turn your toes slightly in and let your knees fall toward each other. If you're feeling any gripping through the front of the hips, walk your heels a little further away from the bum.

Constructive rest pose. If you're like, no, I'm good. It would prefer a more classical Shavasana, set yourself up in whatever way you can find ease here. Full breath in. So we can view all of practice as a tool for understanding.

The more and more I know myself, the more and more I see myself without judgment. The more peace, the more love I have radiating from within out. So let yourself be an avid studier of you to help clear a little bit of the ignorance and to invite in a little more understanding. Please feel free to stay here as long as you'd like. If and when you're ready to leave, sweep your arms overhead, bend your knees and roll on to your right side.

Leave any residual effort from the practice with the Earth below as you press the floor away and make your way to seated. Bring your hands to your heart. Lyft your chest. We bow to the wisdom within. Namaste.

Thank you all for sharing your practice.