Pure Warm Water

Good morning, friends. Welcome to this morning's practice, a very simple, elemental beginning to start your day. What's in your Cuppa? This morning is an ayurvedic beginning of simple start with pure, warm, or hot water. And it's believed that it toxifies the body that it ignites the digestive enzymes and just prepares your inner body for whatever's coming in from the outside world for the day. So let's begin.

Have your mat set up near a wall. We use the wall a little bit towards the end of the practice. And if you have two blocks in the strap, that'll be super helpful. Let's come down onto our backs and draw the knees to the chest. Take a deep breath in through the nose. And as you exhale, just let anything that you're feeling in body mind, spirit, just kinda simmer down and dissolve into the mat, into the earth beneath you, and feel into your physical body this morning.

We'll start with just keeping the right knee to the chest and extending the left leg long. Take a deep breath in here. And as you exhale, gently bring your knee across the body's simple twist, and you can extend your opposite arm away from the chest. Opening up here from the heart center, deep inhale. Exhale. Bring it back to the center and cross your right ankle over the left knee thread the needle pulling everything in towards the chest.

And you'll notice we go right away into the large joints of the body very direct just like a a shot of warm water just kind of infiltrates every little corner and cell in the body and hydrates it. So we'll look at just hydrating all the joints as we move together. Take the right leg to the sky, left foot on the earth, opening up through the hamstring and just bend and straightened through the knee, flexing, and pointing through the toe, feeling into your roots. And then pause for a moment here, draw it in. Just notice how your hamstrings do in this morning is different every morning. And as you exhale, release your right leg long, reach your arms over your head, and then invite the left knee into the chest, and we'll take the second side. Just give it a good squeeze here, kinda rinsing out the left hip as you inhale.

And exhale gently spiral into the twist on the second side. Left arm reaches long. You can turn your head towards that opposite hand. So there's a complete twist from hips all the way up through the neck. And then as you exhale, come back to the center ankle on the knee, thread the needle second side. Noticing the difference between right and left tip, mine's always pretty different and none of us are perfectly symmetrical.

It's okay. Let's take a moment here, deep breath in. As you exhale, release your right foot down, extend left leg to the sky, bend, and straighten few times. Just feeling into the large joints of the body and the small joints, toes, and ankles, and then hold that leg long, give it a little stretch, and your legs a little further away, you can always work with a strap or a towel or hold on behind the hamstring. Release your leg Both arms reach over your head.

Both legs reach long. Stretch out to your full length as you exhale, draw the knees to the chest And let's start to rock and roll along the length of the spine a few times, giving the back a little massage. See rock forward and back. And we'll make our way up to standing. So you can cross the ankles or swing the legs around, but tuck the toes under and press into an easy forward fold and relax your head and neck Take a couple nods. Yes.

Couple shakes. No. And then from here, start to gently roll up the spine, keeping knees bent, navel draws in to support the back. And once you come to standing, roll the shoulders back, open the heart. And let's circle the arms out and up. Good morning.

As you exhale, hands come down the midline and just feeling that release of breath. Inhale drinking the breath like warm water, exhale let it feel like an internal shower. Right? That's what warm water is for all of the vital organs and structures and functions inside the body. It's this beautiful lubrication and warming. Warm water is really pacifying.

Right? Feels so good to step into a bath or a shower. And so we give that to ourselves internally with the morning cup. Of warm water. One more time here. Take a full body breath in.

Just expand. XL. Draw the hands to the heart step to the front of your mat. We'll move into a simple moon salutation with a little variation. Have your blocks nearby just in case you need a little arm extender. Let's reach the arms forward and up on an inhale, like you're tracing the inside of a crescent moon. And then exhale, come down the midline, soften knees, and touch the mat, the earth, relax the head.

Step the left foot back to a long, low lunge, lower the knee. And as you inhale, reach forward up and slightly back, just opening the front of the body, receiving your breath. Exale hands come down. Little variation here. Let's turn the right toes towards the long edge of the mat and reach backs, you feel a little hip opening here.

And if this is funky on your knee, just keep the foot straight and turn the chest with some options there. As you exhale, sweep right arm up and over, reset the front foot. Let's step back to our first down dog of the day. Take a moment here and feel into this shape. Feet hips width or wider, hands shoulder width.

And then ripple forward like a wave, slow, and steady to plank. We take a lunar vinyasa in our chondrenomascara. So lower the knees, chest and hips meet them out at the same time. Inhale. Easy COBRA. Exale release, press to hands and knees, and then back to your downward facing dock.

Step the left foot all the way through to the front of the mat, lower the back knee. If it doesn't get there, you just grab your ankle and scoot it up. On an inhale reach forward up and back, exhale release, turn the left toes to the long edge of the mat reach back, little hip opener, little ringing out of its spine and hips, take it up and over with the left arm, curl back toes under, It's a big step to the top of the mat. Forward fold. Inhale lift your head, your heart, then your hands come all the way up through the surface, exhale hands to the heart.

That was one half of the cycle. Inhale, reach forward up and slightly back. Exhale, drift, release, soften down, forward fold. Step the right foot back to a long low lunge uncurl the toes, inhale reach forward up and back. Exale hands come down.

This time curl the back toes under lift the back knee and then take the left toes towards the edge of the mat. Gesturing back with your left arm. Reach up and over, reset the front foot, and step back down dog. Inhale ripple forward, like a wave on the surface of a warm ocean, exhale lower knees, chest, and hips. Inhale, lift the heart.

Cobra, exhale, release back through hands and knees downward facing dog. Take a breath here. Exale completely. I'm just feeling that slow, steady, and deliberate pace. We step the right foot forward, lower back knee.

Inhale reach forward and up. So it's kind of a slow simmer. Exale, release the hands, curl the back toes under, lift, back knee. Turn the right toes, reach back on an inhale. Exhale up and over, step to the top of the mat, forward fold, inhale to rise up through the surface of the water.

Exhale. 80 5 degrees is what I like for ocean water. It's very tropical, and I'll reach forward in a Excel release forward fold. Take the left foot back, long, low lunge, moving a little more briskly inhale to reach. Lift the heart. Excel release, curl back toes under lift.

Right toes turn. Take a little hip opener. Inhale up and over. Step back to your down dog. Inhale to ripple forward start to feel the warmth and ease in the joints as you lower knees, chest and hips.

Inhale. Keep the eyes steady. Cobra, exhale release, hands and knees, downward dog. Stepping left foot forward, lower the back knee inhale to reach. Lift the heart. Let it open a little. Exhale. Hands to the mat.

Curl back toes, lift knee. Turn the left toes to the left and inhale. Up and over, continue the breath at tail step to the front of the mat, inhale lift the head, heart, hands. Exale hands to heart. We've got one last half of the cycle inhale to reach.

Exhale forward fold. Step the right foot back, lower the knee, inhale to reach, open the heart. Exhale release, back toes curl, reach into, we call it a horizon lunge as you turn left toes up and over. Step back to down dog. Ripple forward on an inhale, exhale lower knees, chest and hips.

Inhale. Maybe a bit of a higher cobra as the body starts to warm, exhale to hands and knees, downward facing dog. Right footsteps forward. Lower the back knee and inhale. Stay with the breath. Exale release.

Curl back toes under lift. In how turn the right toes. Maybe the back toes are turning now. Take it up and over and step to the front of the mat. Inhale lift head, hard, hands, and exhale with a sense of accomplishment finishing out that cycle.

So let's continue to warm and hydrate the body with a standing flow. We'll work with a simple balance. So center your focus and gaze on one point in front of you and shift your weight into the right foot as you gather left knee to chest. And you can hold on at the shin or lace under the hamstring here, but It's the same shape that we started out with on our back, although it's very different standing up. So just feeling that navigation of balance, it's okay if you fall out of the pose, you just come back in.

But if and when you fall, because it always happens, see if you can just maintain your awareness. Let's open the knee up and then take the sole of the foot to either ankle, calf, or inner thigh. We wanna skip the knee. And press into your tree pose, Rakeshana, which is a really beautiful, one of my favorite yoga asanas, because it feels so grounding but it also has this sense of freedom and flow through the upper body. So establish this shape for a moment, lift up through the sideways, through the core, take a full body breath in.

And as you exhale, bring your hands to your hips, we're about to step to warrior too. So it's a little bit of a navigation. We'll take the left foot and start to reach back into the back space, bend the standing leg, and see if you can land somewhere in the vicinity, you can check your feet of your warrior 2 stance. So you have that healed arch alignment. Open up the arms. Why? And feel yourself arrive into this shape.

Nice deep lunge. One of the things I love about morning practice is that it really just drops us into our bodies, especially if we're willing to go there right into kinda just opening everything up for the day. It's great to practice. You'll get any time of day, but the morning we get the most return on our energy, the most clarity if we practice in the morning. Let's turn a reverse warrior here, inhale reach up and back, opening sideways, and then exhale.

Just swim through the space. To side angle elbow can be on the knee, hand can be on the inner foot. You can also work with a block. Take a full body breath here, turning towards the light, and then exhale, return to runner's lunge, spin on ball of that foot, and just heel toe that right foot over so we have that. Kinda right left foot alignment.

Simple twist on an inhale. As you exhale, take a couple back strokes here, wring it out. Open it up. Release once more. Inhale. Hands to the front of the mat.

Big step forward. Fold. Inhale. Lift the heart come all the way up. Arms circle wide. Exhale. Hands come back to the heart.

And we set it for side 2. So shifting the weight into left foot, we find this potagustasana kind of prep. Or balance. Sometimes we'll do this with the leg extended, but just draw the need of the chest and feel the foundation here. Feel the base The basic element of that balance is standing on one leg and lifting the other foot.

Doesn't matter how high And then let's open it up just about 45 degrees. And then foot can go to ankle, calf, or inner thigh, try to skip the knee. It doesn't like that lateral pressure, so we give it its own freedom and then reach up. And just take some breaths here. Feel your steadiness.

Feel the squirliness. See if you can embrace it all. And just try to get very clear and focused through your gaze, through your awareness. As if you were looking through a glass of pure warm water, bringing the hands to the hips, and then start that navigation back slow and steady. Right? Foot reaches back, bend the left knee, land it, adjust it, and then open up life as a constant state of adjustment and change in navigation.

Very rarely do I land right in the perfect spot? It's okay. Take a breath right here, dropping into your hips, and then reverse your warrior. Open up the left side. Deep breath in.

As you exhale swim through that 85 degree water. Feels so good. Reversing or taking extended side angle pose. We just came from reverse wear. Maybe dropping it down a little deeper.

Full breath in. And then exhale return to your runner's lunge, squaring everything off, simple twist, left arm reaches up. And then circle. And, again, if the floor feels far away, you can always put a block. You can always lower the back knee.

Let it be accessible to you. One more back stroke here. Exale release. Step to the front of the mat. Forward fold.

Lips the head and heart come all the way up. Exale hands to the heart center. Let's take that sequence one more time. We'll add just a few elements on. We'll move through it in a flow.

So left knee to chest. Option to extend long through your leg, holding underneath the hamstring. Some of you might even like to take big toe. You can open it out to the side either with that bent knee or extended leg. So many options you can also work with a strap here.

Bring it back to the center. Let's add on either with a bent knee or a straight leg. Simple twist. Reach the left hand back. Exale hands come to the hips, start to thread it back, find your warrior 2, open up.

Inhale reverse your warrior. Exhale. Side angle, swimming through. Take a full body breath here. Exhale. Bring your hand to your hip.

Let's add on half moon. So grab one of those blocks, take it tall, heel to the back foot forward. So we shorten the stance a bit, and then we shift into our half moon. Feeling the chest, shoulders, hips, open up, and expand. Welcoming in the day, gathering, hydrating with the breath, take a full inhale, maybe look up, And then exhale, left foot meets the right.

Let's set that block right there. Come all the way up. Inhale. Exale hands to heart. Right knee to chest. Holding pulling in.

Finding that little compression there. And then option to extend the leg. Option to keep it bent. Option to grab on with a strap or your fingers. Opening it up out to the side. Again, either bent knee or straight leg.

I'm kind of demonstrating a little bit of both here. Bringing it back to the center, adding the twist, twisting also so detoxifying for our vital organs, for our digestive system, coming back to center hands to hips, and then threading back. Oh, little bobble. Little speed wobble to warrior 2. It's normal. Thank god. We're not perfect. It would be so boring.

Reach back. Reverse your warrior. Inhale. Exhale. Side angle. Full body breath in.

Hands to the hip, one hand to the hip. So preparing for our half moon, we start to shift forward We take our block, turn it tall, and it's just a little bit to the left of the baby toe as you shift and expand. Feel your fullness here. Open through the chest. Open through the breath.

And feel that internal rinse of your breath, especially when we breathe UJai through the nose. It naturally warms the breath. It's like that warm water we start the day with. One more inhale. Exhale. Step right foot to the left. Come all the way up to standing, inhaling, linger at the top for a moment.

It's floating. And then exhale release arms wide. Yeah. Waking up. Let's either lace the fingers behind the back or take a strap. Particularly if your shoulders are a little bit tired or you've you're strong.

You're strong in the shoulders. So we need a little space, and we take the hands palms facing forward towards the front of the body, feet hips width apart, inhale lift your chest, and then exhale start to drift forward and release. Head neck and shoulders. Nies can be quite bent here, or you can start to straighten the legs. And with that space with the strap, it just gives us a little more freedom through the upper body to release the front of the shoulders, which also prepares us for shoulder stand.

So hang out here for a moment or 2. An empty out. When you think of the element, the warm water element, it has this beautiful dissolving quality. This release and surrender a sense of renewal. Taking one more breath here.

Letting yourself just marinate in this shape. Natural inversion. Let's release the hands, set your strap to one side, and then step back to plank. Pause and plank for a moment. Oh, yes.

Feeling the strength coming up from the earth, into the hands, into the shoulders. Shift forward. And this time, when we lower down, keep the leg straight, keep the core intact, and lower your body down in one piece if you can. Try it. Bend your knees.

See about reaching your hands back towards the feet. Lift the heart. So we have kind of this floating down your retina. And if it feels accessible to you, you can absolutely grab on to feet or ankles. If not, don't worry about it and lift your chest, lift your thighs. Opening up through the heart.

And this pose kinda has the shape of a boat, just floating over water, feeling that sense of buoyancy, whether you're holding your feet or you're not, you can also be doing straight legs. Right? And just take a moment here, feeling your back core engaged, neck long, wherever you are in this shape. I'm gonna keep my knees bent. Give my quads a little release. And then let's exhale and take it all the way back to child's pose.

Little snap crackle pop of the joints is normal, special, especially in morning practice. Couple breaths right here. I'm taking one more breath. Sliding the hands back towards the knees, roll up the spine. Let's shift forward, curl the toes, and take your feet off the edges of the mat so that you can slide your mat back to the wall. Oh, look at that. And then let's come on down.

We'll tuck and roll and take our legs up the wall to start to move into our grounding series here. So the easiest way to do this is to just scoot your rear right up to the wall, right up to the baseboard, and then tuck and roll onto your back. So that your legs come up the wall, feeling that gentle release the hamstrings and low back. And we'll work into an easy shoulders stand progression from here. So let your knees bend a little bit, heels on the wall, and then start to posterior tuck the tailbone and pelvis under and roll up towards your shoulders. And we'll just come up and down a couple of times.

And feel into the subtlety inside your body as you invert. This is a really great release for shoulders and neck. Conversions are considered kind of the royalty of yoga postures. In the purest form. And all of the Austenas give us so many opportunities, as far as strength and flexibility in stimulation or grounding of our nervous system.

But the inversions in particular have a direct relationship to kind of the balance of our glands, the pineal glands, thyroid gland. So it has this very deep stabilizing quality regulates all the different systems in our body. So as you roll up and down, this time come up in that Stay for a moment. Take your hands to your low back, and I encourage you not to turn your head. Just listen for these next several moments, take the feet up the wall so you're in a supported shoulder stand and lift through the hips.

Little internal rotation. Hopefully, you can see your legs from here and notice that that legs can either externally rotate or internally rotate, bring the big toes touch. So there's that slight neutral spiral of the thighs, and then pelvis slightly tucks under to lift and elongate. It's a lot of work in the hamstrings. You're welcome. So just feel that awakening there. Shoulders draw down and breathe.

Anytime we come into inversions, we wanna feel that rotation of the legs and the pelvis slightly t tilted under. And now from here, your hamstrings are probably asking for a little, a little freedom. So we'll bend one knee and take one leg up and over towards plow. Followed by the other leg, and we get this fabulous, deep forward fold in an inversion. Can release through the tops of the feet and stretch the legs long.

Might feel good to keep your hands at your low back, or you can lace the fingers and kinda snuggle your shoulders underneath you for a little more shoulder opening, and let's enjoy three very deep UJai breaths here, breathing in through the nose, and out through the nose. See if you can create the sound of the ocean in your breath. And our noses are specifically made to be our most fantastic breathing apparatus. When we breathe deeply and consciously through our nose, it warms and hydrates the breath. It cleanses the air that we're breathing in.

When we get that slight narrowing at the back of the throat, it pressurizes the breath so that it enters the lungs at a different speed and velocity. Which expands our loan capacity. One more breath here. I'm bringing the hands to the load back. Once again, if they're not already there, taking one foot back to the wall, followed by the other foot, take a deep breath in knees, bend, release your hands, feel this bent knee shoulder stand.

And then as you exhale slowly start to surrender your body down, to the earth, and it feels renewed. Feels like a different body. Release the legs long. Arms release over your head. And enjoy a full body breath here.

Exhale completely. This might be where you choose to enjoy your Shivasana for today's practice. If you prefer a more classic Shivasana, you can obviously scoot away from the wall or bend the knees if the low back feels like it needs a little more release. Sometimes I like to take a wide leg Shavasana and allow the adductors to just breathe here. And sometimes it's nice to bring the soles of the feet together.

So whatever feels the most therapeutic for you, please take that shape. And allow your awareness, your body, your breath to just return to that easy flow like, a slow stream. Oh, the shapes that we moved through this morning, very simple, foundational, but straightforward flow. That steady stream of warm water through the body. To open and awaken to ignite all of our digestive enzymes.

Not just for the food we eat, but for what we take in through all of our senses through the day. To detoxify our mind, to release any stagnation in the body and to awaken. A more conscious flow of energy. So take a few moments here, a few minutes to receive all this beautiful hydration to each and every cell. In its purest form.

Start to slowly bring your awareness back into your body. Send a little movement into your fingers and your toes, into the ankles and the wrists, into the elbows and the knees, drawing the knees and towards your chest and bringing the hands together and just giving the hands palms a little rub. And then taking your hands to the sides of the shins and calves, circulating over the knees, giving yourself a little little brief morning massage as you reawaken. This is great to do with sesame oil or coconut oil. It's another Iravedic practice.

Just hydrating the outer body with warm oil, taking your hands to your tummy, little circulation to your chest, hands to the shoulders and down the arms forms to the forehead. To the neck, a little tap to the head, and then releasing, dropping your knees over to one side, pressing yourself up to a comfortable ceded position, either against the wall or the center of your mat, inhale to sweep the arms out and up deep breath in. Exale, hands come back down the midline, checking in with yourself, feeling that deep sense calm, peaceful stillness. It's always here inside of us. Just need to make a little space for it.

Thank you so much for practicing with me this morning. And we'll see you in the next class. No mistake.