Looking Within

Welcome to looking within. So today's physical practice will tie into the 5th limb of yoga, Pratyajara, Patya Hara's since withdrawal. So it is often something we hear, something we smell, something we taste, something that comes in through the gateway of the senses that distracts us, that keeps us from staying on a focused track. So with a lot of our postures, we'll be looking within, folding within, make sure you have two blankets, a strap, and two blocks. And then grab one of your blankets and fold it in half like so. So you have a nice rectangular shape.

And we place that toward the center of your mat, and we're gonna come lie on the front body. With the blanket right underneath your abdomen, right under your lower belly. Make a little pillow with your hands and turn your head to one side. Ever feels most natural to you. And observe how this blanket roll feels against the front body.

For most of us, it might initially feel a little bit natural, but its purpose, its focus here, is to create some resistance so that the breath is able to access your lower back a bit more fully and your back ribs. The space says we may not think of breathing too often. So breathe into the resistance of the folded blanket below you and fill your back inside body. Do this a few times through. Just to assure that we're balanced through the neck.

Turn your head so you're lying on the opposite cheek. For your next few rounds. As you pause in this slightly different shape, Consider setting an intention for your practice. Something to help you maintain your focus within. Once you have that gathered, you're welcome to join me in just a silent, ohm, to self. Take one more full breath into the fullness of your back and silent, ohm to self.

Bring your head center. Pop yourself up on your forearms. Set your elbows right underneath your shoulders and bring your hands a shoulder distance apart. And as you lift it up, if you follow this move into your lower back a little bit, Take a moment to hollow your abdomen and imagine you could round through your back, like you're taking cat pose. So again, we're trying to widen the back ribs.

Keep as much of that as you can as you pull back with your palms and shine your heart forward, broaden your chest. The blanket underneath the abdomen, hopefully, is helping you maintain a bit more length through your lower back. Take one more breath to your heart center. And then exhale. Bring your head down.

Draw your hands back alongside your chest and press yourself to your hands and your knees. Set your blanket to the side for now. Bring your fingertips back so that they're right in front of your knees, and then tuck your toes under. And then rock back onto the balls of your feet. Slowly.

Take heels to the earth, straighten your legs, to your comfortable edge, and let your head and neck go. Inhale. Slides your hands up your shins as you reach your heart forward. And then exhale, binge your knees and drape your ribs over your thighs. Keep your knees bent, tuck your chin, and roll yourself all the way at to standing one little boon at a time.

When your head reaches the top, invite your hands to follow sweep up, reach up. And exhale. Take your hands to your heart. Relax your arms. Take a walk to the top of your mat. Tadasana. And have your blocks in reaching distance of the top of your mat just in case you decide you'd like to use them throughout.

Alright. Setting your todasana, either feet together, or of your front hit points. Choose the option that allows you stability in your body. Press the top of your thighs back as you smooth the flesh of your bum down, and then lift your heart and rotate your upper arms until your palms face for it. Mount And Post.

Press into the Earth in how reach Skyward or Vahastasana upward hands pose. X, how shift your weight a little forward in your feet as you fold in half. As always, feel free to bend the knees if you start feeling pulling through your back or hamstrings. Inhale to fingertips or hands on blocks. This time through, creating a little more lift in space.

Keep your heart reaching forward as you bend your knees enough to get your hands grounded. Step back with your right foot. Bring your hands and or blocks back under your shoulders. Set your back knee down and pat it if it feels tender on the earth. Unurl your toes, press down in hell.

Rise up. Reach up. Maybe. Look up. And exhale, bring your hips forward, set your blocks out of the way. Bring your front knee to meet your back knee and walk your hands about 3 inches ahead of your shoulders. Ship forward, bend your elbows right on top of your wrists.

Look at these blocks trying to hide me from you. We won't have it. Reach back for your toes. Pull back with your palms as you shine your heart forward and up. Low cobra, bhujangasana. X. I'll set it right back down.

Tuck your toes under. Press to your hands and your knees. And then take your hips up and back to your downward facing dog. Been the knees, everyone, for a moment here. Keep your knees bent and stretch long through your spine.

From here, reach back and down through your heels, straightening your legs only as far as you can go, maintaining the length in your spine. Inhale. Lift your right leg. Lead from your inner thigh so your toes point down. And then at how hug your right knee toward your nose, float your shoulders over your wrists, and try to step your foot between your hands. If it doesn't get there on its own, either grab the foot and bring it forward, or we're all gonna take the back knee down from here It's sometimes a little easier to help it along its way.

Uncurl your back toes, press down in house, rise up, reach up, Maybe look up challenging your balance a little further. Acts how hips forward hands to the earth. If you feel like you're rounding through your back to touch the ground here, bring the ground to you. Tuck your back toes under, lift your knee, hop your back foot up to meet your front. In how reach your heart, straightforward, elongate your spine.

Ax how fold forward. Let your head and neck go. Press down in how with a long spine rise up reach up. Maybe look up and exhale. Take your hands to your heart.

Let's do this starting with the left foot. Root down in how once again sweep your arms up and overhead, ordva hastasana, exhale. Wait a little forward in your feet fold in half. Inhale. Reach your chest straightforward, Art Utsana. Bend your knees enough to get your hands down if they're not already connected to the earth or props.

Step back with your left foot. Set your back knee down, pat it if it's tender. Root down, inhale, rise up, reach up, maybe look up, and exhale hands back to your blocks. Set them to the side. And on this side, tuck your back toes under.

Lift your knee. Step it back to your plank pose top of a push up. If you get here and immediately feel sinking happening, that's your body asking for a little more support. Put your knees down. Otherwise, maybe you explore pressing back for the heels.

Everyone scoop your abdomen in length and tailbone back heart forward, and then shift forward. Bend your elbows right on top of your wrists as you lower all the way to the mat. And if that happened pretty quickly, it's part of it. It's okay. Brush your toes back.

Hug your outer ankles in. Smooth your bum towards your heels as you lift your heart for low cobra, bhujangasana. X. I'll lower back to the mat. Tuck your toes under, walk them in, inhale to plank or hands and knees as I'm doing for added support, and then exhale press your thighs straight back, downward facing dog. On the second side, explore bringing your feet a little closer together and see if that helps with your balance as you inhale lift your left leg.

So that toes point down. Ex, how a hug left knee toward your nose, float shoulders over your wrists, step foot between your hands, If it didn't get there on its own, help it forward until knee is on top of your ankle. Set your back knee down, uncurl your toes. Feel free to go wider with the left foot for added stability, and I'll reach up to the sky half crescent. Exhile hips forward.

If you're rounding through your back to put your hands down, grab your blocks once again. Bring the earth to you. Shift your hips back until your right hip is directly over your right knee. Walk your hands back a little further so they're under your shoulders. And then straighten through your left leg.

Reach the ball of your big toe forward. You're in or heel forward and draw the pinky edge of your foot. Back toward your outer hip. Press down through your back heel. And then without actually moving the foot, try to drag your heel toward your butt.

And feel about levels your hips and moves you away from the hamstring attachment. Take one more breath here. Arda Hanumanasana half split. Draw your heel toward you a few inches, rebend your front knee. Walk your hands and or block forward so they're under your shoulders once again, and then tuck your back toes under.

Lift your knee. High lunge. Hop that foot up to meet your front foot. Inhale stretch from tailbone to crown of head, exhale fold in. Again, bend the knees if you're feeling strained through your back or hamstrings, and then press down. Circular arms.

Up and overhead in howling to upward hands pose and exhale take your hands to your heart. Relax your arms, grab both of your blocks, and come meet me facing one of the long edges of your mat. Step your feet out to your wingspan distance, or as close to that as you can find without strain. And then set your blocks down wide in front of you, just so they're there and in reaching distance, if you decide you'd like to use them. Angle your right toes slightly in.

From your left hip sock, rotate your entire left leg open and create a clean line from your front heel all the way to the center of your back arch. Bend your right knee in line with your second toe. Left knee. Swove your left cheek in and under you. As you press the front of your right thigh straight back. Bring your abdomen in.

Turn open through your chest and take both arms out to the sides. Verabhadrasana 2, warrior 2. Press into both of your feet straight and your front leg reach up. X. I'll re bend your knee lower in. Do that again in.

I'll bring it up. X. I'll lower in. One more time in how come up. Acts how lower and stay. Invite your gaze, sweetly over your left fingertips.

And if you feel steady, uncomfortable doing so, maybe for a breath or 2, explore clothes in your eyes. Take your focus within what shifts What changes for you? And then blink your eyes open, press down. Reach up. X how relax your arms. Parallel your feet.

I know you're wondering why these blocks are there. We're gonna get to them. Foreshadowing, foreshadowing, foreshadowing, angle your left toes slightly in this time, rotate your whole right leg open, and align your front heel with the center of your back arch. Bend right knee in line with your second toe. Open your arms to the sides.

Scoop your right cheek under you as you press your left thigh back, lift your abdomen, and try to parallel your heart to your chest to the long end of your mat. Press into both feet, straight, and through your front leg reach. Acts how we bend your front knee lower in. Do that again, inhale come up and out. X. How look at your front knee align it with your second toe.

Press down, rise up. One more time, in case you're unsure, your second toe is the one next to your big toe. This is a question I had early on. Which way are we counting? Hold here.

And, again, maybe you explore taking your dristy, your point of focus within. For me, when I close the eyes here, It gives an added challenge to my balance, which actually helps me find a little more stability in time. A little more grounding. Blink your eyes back open, straighten your front leg reach to the sky, parallel your feet. We're gonna go back to the first side, angle your right toe slightly in, rotate your left leg open.

Right into your warrior 2. Track knee over ankle and in line with your second toe. And now reach out over your front leg. Take your left forearm to your thigh and now slice through the air with the thumb side of your hand. Send your thumb up So your outer arms spins toward your face, like you're trying to hide your armpit.

Now for many of us, this is more than enough. You can stay right here. If you can hold the even link through the sides of your waist and do so, take your bottom hand to the earth or prop inside your front leg. Plant the hand right under your shoulder. Try to bring your shoulders away from your ears and firm them against your back.

Wutita Pajwa Kanasana extended side angle pose. Return top hand to the sky, look to the earth. Take your forearm to your thigh. Press down. Stand yourself up. Relax your arm straighten your leg.

Parallel your feet. And we'll go to the second side. Angle left toe slightly in from your right hip socket, rotate right leg open, And once again, align your front heel with the center of your back arch. Bend your right knee in line with your second toe. Draw the right cheek under.

Press your left thigh back. Open through your chest. Reach out over your front leg. Take a pit stop with your forearm on your thigh. Slice through the air with the thumb side of your hand.

And as you go, rotate your arm, so that maybe your palm faces back. Spin your outer arm toward your face as you turn open through your chest. You may stay right here. Again, if you can keep the length even through the sides of your waist and do so, take your hand to the earth or a prop inside your front leg, setting hand in line with your shoulder. Okay. Extended side angle pose. Return top hand to the sky.

Look to the earth. Press down. Pick your body up. Relax your arms, parallel your feet. Grab your blocks, heel toe your feet toward each other, and then set them that last little bit together. Set your blocks out of the way for now, and then come find the top of your mat.

Inhale. Take your arms up. Xhale. Fold forward. Inhale. Heart forward Bend your knees enough to get your hands down, and step back with your right foot.

Alright. If you're rounding through your bat, please feel free to put your hands on your blocks, raising the ground a little bit closer to you. Pivot your back heel down, aligning yourself, heel to heel this time. If that feels a little wobbly, like you're on a tight rope in a not fun way, he'll tow left foot over to the left so that instead of a tight rope, it's more like railroad tracks. Guide your left hip back and in.

In fact, you can bring your left thumb to your left hip crease. Scoop the abdomen in and then put your hands on the top of your thigh. Reach your heart forward. Take your hands to the top of your bum. Smooth your bum down as you rise up.

Leave your hands here for a moment. Really anchor through your back heel. And coil your abdomen in. Sweep your arms up. Straighten through your front leg.

Draw your elbows down. Like, could bring them to touch behind you. Rebing your front knee and reach to the sky. Do that again. Come up and out. Rebend your knee. Try to lift from your back body.

One more time, come up and out. Revenge your front knee and reach. Hold here. Draw your ribs in. If you can do so without wrinkling the back of your neck, lift your gaze, and then exhale, take your hands to the ground. For a moment here, if you don't already have blocks under your hands, pivot onto the ball of your back foot, set your back knee down, bring front knee to meet it.

Sometimes I get into something and I discover, it'd be nice to have a little bit more space. So you can follow my lead if that's you. Step your left foot forward between your hands once again. Tuck your back toes under lift journey. Straight in front leg to the best of your ability fold it in. Rebend your knee and lengthen your spine.

Do that again. Straight in front leg. Fold in. Rebend your knee. Reach your heart forward.

Do this one more time. Straight fold. Rebend and lengthen. Hop your back foot forward a few inches and pivot your back heel down. Again, heel to heel or a little wider for more stability.

Heel tow left foot over to the left, again, if you're looking to widen the space. Press down for the ball of your left big toe. Bring left thumb to left hip crease. You stay as you are. I'm just gonna switch my legs for a moment so you can see what I mean when I'm talking about guiding the hip back. I'm literally putting my thumb in my hip.

Steer back and in. Scoop your abdomen in as you reach your chest forward. From here, if you've yet to meet a truthful edge in your body, walk your hands and or blocks forward, elongate through your spine. Again, leave your leg as it is. I'm gonna return so that I have left foot forward because I wanna be with you. Right?

And as you draw your hips back, imagine you could stretch your heart to the space between your hands. Rebend left knee on top of your ankle, find the ball of your back foot, hop back foot up to meet your front. Inhale, stretch your heart straightforward, exhale fold it in. Root down, inhale, rise up. Reach up and exhale hands to your heart.

Let's take the second side in house. Sweep up and overhead. Exhale fold into self. Let your head and neck go. Inhale. Stretch your heart forward. Elongate your spine.

Bend your knees enough to get your hands down if they're not there already. And then step back this time with your left foot. Right? Bring hands back underneath your shoulders, pivot your back heel down, and try to draw a line from your front heel to your back heel. Again, if that feels a little wobbly in your body, heel to a right foot over to the right a touch, widen your base.

Bring right thumb to your right hip crease. Try to steer your right hip back in line with your left. Pin it in toward the midline. Take both hands to the top of your thigh. Scope your abdomen in, getting a lift and haul all through your low belly.

And now elongate from your navel to the top of your chest. Put your hands on your butt. Smooth. You're bummed down to keep length in your lower back, and then rise up. Reach up. This is Vera Bedrasana 1, Warrior 1.

Straighten through your front leg. Draw your elbows down like you could bring them to touch behind you. Rebing your front knee, reach to the sky. Do that again. Come up and out. So the elbows drawing down is heating the upper back.

Rebend your front knee, stretch to the sky. Do this one last time. And return to your warrior 1. Feel if you're starting to throw the ribs forward. Can you bring your abdomen in your front ribs in, maybe you walk your gaze a bit up the wall in front of you, and then exhale hands to the earth or your props.

Find the ball of your back foot, straighten your front leg to the best of your ability, fold in. Re binge your front knee. Reach your chest forward. Do this again. X. How fold into self.

Let it go. Rebound and lengthen. One more time, straighten and fold. Re bend, and lengthen. Hop your back foot in a few inches.

Pivot your back heel down, heel to heel, or a little wider for more stability. Press to the mound of your right big toe, steer your right hip back and in. And if it helped you, when we were doing our warrior, bring your thumb to the hip crease, guide it back as you stretch your heart forward. Return both hands to the earth to your props. If you're at a edge here, honor this edge, stay here.

Otherwise, walk your hands a bit forward. And instead of trying to fold your head to your leg, think of reaching your heart to the space between your hands. This is a variation of Paj Vodenasana, which is often referred to as pyramid posts, but a more literal translation is side flink stretch. Rebend your front knee, hop your back foot up to meet it. Draw your chest straightforward. Elongate your spine.

Exhale, fold forward, melt into self. Inhale, once again, reach your heart straight forward. And this time, take left knee down, take your right knee down, and now set your blocks off to the side. Shift your feet out in front of you and stretch your legs out long. And if you're like myself, when the legs went out, I sort of set more to the tailbone. It collapsed through my chest.

So I'm gonna grab one of my blankets and come sit on the folded edge. Alright? And then I'm gonna check-in. So I'm looking to get a little tilt of my pelvis forward, so I feel the natural curve of my low back return. I'm almost there. So I'm gonna add another blanket just to help myself out a little bit more.

Okay. So, again, enough of a lift so that the natural curve returns, and you feel like you can sit with length through your spine. Have a strap in reaching distance. Spend your inner thighs down until your toes point straight up. And now press your inner heel and the ball of your big toe forward. And imagine you could draw the pinky edge of your foot back towards your outer hips.

Lift your heart, open your chest. This is dandasana staff pose. And to Dawson, our standing mountain pose is sort of like a blueprint posture for everything that comes for all of our standing poses, for sure, Dundasana is sort of like the same thing for our seated poses. So we're gonna keep the basic shell of that and now bend the right knee draw it in toward your chest. Open your right hip.

And if you notice the knee is hovering a good distance from the ground, or you're feeling any stress or the outer knee, Take a block. Set it underneath your outer thigh so that it's supported. Spend your in or left thigh down so that your toes point out and again, reach forward through your inner heel through the ball of your big toe and guide the pinky edge of your foot back. Rute down evenly through your sit bones and feel how that invites a bit more lift and length through your spine, add the arms in in how reach up. Keep your arms up.

And as you exh, how revolve your torso to face your straight leg a little bit more. Inhale. Get a bit taller. And as you exh, how send your heart towards your toes. If the foot is there without strain, you could hold your foot. You may instead pause like I'm doing with hands alongside your leg, or we split the difference.

Grab a strap. Take it around the ball of your foot. And we don't get the strap to, like, yank and pull on it because if you look at my body here, This is not a happy place. Right? So still go for the length through the spine, the open space of your heart. We try to hinge forward from the hips. If you start to feel any pulling at all through your knee, it's an invitation to back off.

If it's stressful in your back or your hamstrings, come a little bit more upright. So this posture is called Janus Sherasana, which does actually mean head to knee pose. But I like to think of it more as heart to toe pose. Right? Breathe to where you feel there resistance, the greatest.

With each ex, how maybe you soften a touch more? Inhale. Reach your heart forward. Slide your hands back either on the earth or on your strap. Those of us using the strap, set it off to the side for now. Take your hand to your outer right thigh, draw your knee up, and stretch your leg out long.

Bring your left knee in this time. Open your left hip to the side. And again, if your knee is hovering a good distance off the ground or you're feeling pulling or stressed to the knee, set a prop underneath it at any height that allows you length and ease. Reach forward through your inner left teal the ball of your big toe and try to draw the pinky edge of the foot back. So we're imagining a clean flex like the base of your foot was against a wall.

Root down through your sit bones, lift your heart, lift your hands. And as you exh, I'll hinge from your hips. Reach your heart toward your toes. Again, if it's there without strain, you can hold your foot. You can grab your strap or keep your hands at the sides of your leg.

With each inhale elongate through your spine, And just like we did with our arms upright on the first side, as you exhale, can you roll the left side of your rib cage toward your right thigh a little bit? Subtle revolve. With every in house seat length, And with each exhale soften, when I say soften, for some of us, that might be, literally folding in a little bit more, but more importantly, can you quiet your mind? This is one of these shapes where many of us are bumping up against resistance or tension in areas in our body. And when that happens, the mind starts to judge. Maybe it gives a little back talk.

Can you use your breath quiet the chatter of the mind. Remembering here, we're just observing self with loving kindness. Reach your heart forward. Slide your hands back. Take your hand to your outer thigh.

Draw all your knee up. Bring your right knee to meet it. And if you're sitting on props like myself, scooch off of them. Move your blocks and your blankets off to the side. And come lie on your back.

Bend your knees. Place your feet on the ground as wide as your mat. Open your arms either straight out to the sides or it feels better across your chest. You can bend your elbows like I'm doing. Little cactus arms.

Keep your feet as wide as your mat. And on an exhale, lazily singed your knees to the left, like windshield wipers, reopening the front of the hip and thigh. And in how come back center, exhale knees to the right, and inhale center. And do this a few times side to side at your own breath pace. No rush. Maybe adding the head turning in the opposite direction of the knees.

And after the next time you come up from the right side, pause center, He'll toe your feet toward each other till they're about the distance of your front hip points. Check in if the low back is asking for one last finishing posture. Maybe it's a little hug of your knees to the chest. And a small roll side to side to massage the band of your lower back. And then return feet to the earth.

If you still have a blanket in reaching distance, wonderful. If not, before we fully let go to Shavasana, grab 1, or if you have a small hand towel, you can use that as well. Stretch your legs out long. I'm gonna take the folded end of my blanket and just place it over my eyes, blocking out a bit of the light. So, again, if you have a towel at home or if you wanna use your drop over your eyes to do this work with. Again, just prolonging out a bit of the distraction as we settle into self. And walk your shoulders under your chest, leaving a subtle lift at the heart.

And if having your legs stretched out long is not a kindness on your lower back, bend your knees. Nause, you grow still. Maybe listen for a sound in your space. Something to bind you to the present moment? While mastery over the senses, And this work of Pratyajara can definitely be about withdrawing from the distracting aspect of them.

It doesn't always mean that We're not present with them in any way. And binding the mind to one sound, to one taste, to touch a smell, can actually be a way of tapping into the present. Allowing other distractions to fade away. If your body would like a bit more time, Stay here as long as you'd like. You're already home.

Otherwise, try to carry a bit of the quiet of the practice. With you as you bend your knees and place your feet on the ground. Scoot your hips a little to the left. Open right arm to the right. And roll on to your right side.

Gently removing the cover from your eyes and pause on your side. Giving any leftover effort from the practice to the earth below. Try to leave it there. As you press the floor away and bring yourself up to seated. Join your hands at your heart.

Lift your chest. We bow our thinking mind to the wisdom of the heart. Namaste.