Bringing Balance and Symmetry

Hi. Welcome to today's practice. My name is Erin, and today is all about bringing balance and symmetry to the body. And then also balance off of our mats. Today, we will be focusing on opening the hamstrings and hip flexors. So split in half, And what I'm going to have you have is a strap, two blocks optionally, and we will begin supine on your back. So come on down. Have your strap nearby.

Live back. And let's just take a moment to check-in, connecting to your breath, even noticing, the inhale and the exhale. See if you can find some of Ritty bringing balance to both the inhalation and the exhalation. And then when you're ready, grab hold of your strap. Let's bend both knees for a moment.

Plant the feet. And we will loop the strap around your right foot. It can hold either ends of the strap. Once the hips are as even as possible, extend long through the left leg, draw the shoulders down, And then as you breathe in, kick through the right heel. So turn on the hamstring, wrap the outer right forward.

And on the exhale, just go into the stretch, pulling the toes any amount back towards you. Twice more. Inhale, heel bone kicks forward as if there's a wall there and exhale, go a little deeper into the stretch one more time. Inhale, kick forward through the heel, activate the hamstring. And as you exhale, bring the foot back, one more breath in the depth of your stretch. And then back out slightly.

Take your left hand to your left tip. Start to externally rotate the right leg and open it out to the side. You can rest the elbow down on the ground. Just trying to rotate the thigh in the hip socket without the pelvis lifting off the ground. So both sit bones as evenly rooted as possible.

Take one more breath, bring the leg back up through center, switch hands with the strap, take your right hand to your right hip crease, press it forward, start to bring the leg across the body, You can stay here with both hips rooted, or you can start to shift over onto the left tip stacking the right on top and open your right arm out to the side. Let me breathe here. Keep extending through the left legs. Don't forget about the bottom leg. And then when you're ready, come back to center.

Remove the strap, bend both knees, plant the feet, and we'll switch. So extend the left foot up into the strap, Resituate the hips. Resituate the shoulders. Once your hips feel even, go ahead and extend long through the right leg. On an inhale, press the right, a left heel forward. And as you exhale, let the foot come towards you a little bit deeper, twice more. Inhale.

Kick the heel forward. As we're opening the hamstrings, exhale pull back. It's really important to engage. One more. Inhale. Heel forward.

Exhale. Pull back any amount. Continue to rise up the outer left tip away from you. Stay for the breath. And then you can gather both ends of the strap into your left hand.

Back out slightly, rotate the leg deep within the hip socket, and open. Right hand can be resting on the hip or thigh to ground you. Keep the neck long. Notice if the left side of the waist shortens. So try to find symmetry in both sides of the waist.

As the leg is moving out. And then as you're ready, bring the leg back up to center, take hold of the strap with the right hand, left hand can hook into that hip crease to press it forward and begin to bring the leg across the body. Again, option to stay right here, or to start to roll to the outer right hip. They may have to scooch a little left. Left tip stacks, left arm can extend out to the side and then press out through both feet.

So, again, not losing sight of the bottom leg as we're working into the twist. One more breath. Slowly come back to center. You can bend the knees again, remove the strap, And we will come up to a seated position. I have one block set at the top and one at the back.

You might want to use Two Blocks in the front, and we will come to a tabletop position for cat cow. So on an inhale, lengthen the spine, exhale press and round the back. Again, inhale, heart lift, sit bones lift, exhale pressing round, one more time, inhale lengthen, Exhale round, big toes touch, sitting back into child's pose just for a moment. Notice the left and right side body, the front and back. And as you're ready, come forward to a tabletop position, tuck the toes and lift back to downward facing dog, take a moment to get situated.

Press through the left palm and the right heel. Find that diagonal opposition. And then press through the right palm left heel, and then find the evenness through both hands, both feet as best you can. As as you inhale shift forward to plank pose, take a breath, shift forward knees up or down, lower through Chaturanga all the way down to the ground. Point the toes lift to cobra, shoulder heads back, pelvis stays down elbows stay bent, lower all the way back down.

This time reach the arms back. If possible, interlace the hands behind the back, extend the arms long, roll the shoulder heads backstart to lift the sternum forward and up. If it's okay on your low back, extend the legs long, lifting from the inner thigh, pull the heart forward, Take one more breath here. Slowly releases you exhale. Let's extend the arms forward.

Come to fingertips. And then as you inhale, it extends so long through the right leg that it lifts up from the inner thigh, lifts the chest lift the left arm from the inner arm, exhale lower. As you inhale, lengthen so much through the left leg that it lifts from the inner thigh, reach it long, lift chest, and right arm from the inner arm. Exhale lower one more time with the breath, right leg, left arm inhale. Exhale lower, right arm, left leg, exhale lower, Slide the hands back next to your side ribs.

Lift to either cobra or slide the hips forward to straighten the arms into upward facing dog. And exhale downward facing dog. Take a deep breath here. Exhale. Left the heels.

We're not going forward. Bend your knees. Look forward. Step your right foot to the top. Lower the back knee, inhale, reach your arms up on Jana, exhale, hands frame the front foot Ardahanaman straight in the front leg. If you need hands to blocks, you can find that here.

Take 2 more breaths, wrap the outer right hip back and in one more breath. And then we'll move in and out of the bent and the straight leg. So as you breathe in, bend your front knee, sink the hips, open the chest, exhale straight, and then fold. Twice more. Inhale. Bend the knee open across the chest. Exhale.

Straight and unfold. Once more, inhale, bend the knee, little back, bend, exhale straighten and fold. This time as you bend the front knee, lift the back knee, pivot to the left, all the way to the left foot, lower the right knee, reach your arms up as you breathe in, exhale frame the front foot, half split Artahanamon. Inhale lengthen. Exhale fold. We're holding here for the 1st round.

If you needed to, you can locate your blocks, take a deep inhale, and a full exhale. Notice the difference from side to side. Rocking with the breath, inhale, bend your front knee, lift the chest, exhale straighten the front leg and folds. Twice more in how bend the front knee. If you have blocks, you might be up higher, exhale stirate and then fold draw the navel back one more time. Inhale.

Sync the hips open the chest. Exhale half split. Good. Then the front knee, tuck the back toes, lift the back knee, Step your right foot to the meet the left and fold forward. Hold the fold. Hold opposite elbows for a moment. Hands to shins, lengthen, Ada.

Exhale fold notice from left to right how the body feels. Bend your knees, Gutasana chair pose. Rise to stand, arms by your side. Sir, you'd be one time broken down, bend your knees, inhale reach tall chair pose, exhale bow forward and fold, art as you breathe in, lengthen, Plant the palms step or lightly float right into Chaturanga over the toes, shoulders back, updog. Exhale hips back downward dog, right leg lifts with your inhale.

Step towards your right thumb, ground the back heel, and then rise up warrior 1. Notice if the sacrum feels a little crunch. Try to wrap the outer left tip forward. Pin the pinky edge of the back foot And as you untuck the tailbone, lift the navel and then sink into the front side, maybe gaze up and seal the palms. One more breath.

Exhale, hands release, inhale to plank, exhale lower chaturanga, over the toes, breathing, and up dog, hips, back downward dog, left leg lifts with your inhale, Step your left foot towards your left thumb, angle the back heel down. Point the right toes towards the top right corner. And widen the right sacrum reach the arms up. As you untuck the sit bones, You might be able to sink deeper, but try to keep sealing the pinky edge of the back foot, lift through the navel sternum. Maybe the gaze seal the palms at the top, exhale hands down, step to plank, inhale shift forward, exhale lower chaturanga, inhale upward facing dog, exhale hips back downward facing dog.

Inhale the left leg up and back, exhale step towards your left thumb, ground the back, heal it, and angle, and inhale to rise warrior 1. Roll the inner right grind back, but try to keep the pinky edge of the right foot sealed. And then as you untuck the sit bones, just slightly lift the navel. So you're lifting out of your low back. Maybe lift the sternum, then the chin, then the gaze, sealing the palms at the top as you exhale, release the hand, step to plank, take an inhale to shift forward and exhale lower halfway chaturanga, inhale upward facing dog, and exhale downward facing dog.

Take a breath. Full exhale on an inhale lift your right leg up and back Exhale, step your right foot forward, warrior 1, ground the back heel, and reach your arms up. This time, open up warrior 2, adjust heel to arch, reach your arms out wide, flip the right palm, reverse warrior, big breath in. Come back through warrior 2, straighten both legs. He'll toe the back foot in if you need to.

And grab hold of a block if you need to reach the right waist long, cut the right hip back. I'm gonna land the hand on the block just outside the shin, engage the right quadriceps muscle, and feel as though your right hip could hug underneath you and your chest might lean back as if there were a wall behind you. Spread your wings and try to lengthen both sides of the waist evenly. One more breath keeps sealing the pinky edge of that back foot. And then top hand can come to the hip, keep the chest open, gaze down, traveling with or without your block half moon.

Bend your front knee, walk the hander block forward about a foot, float the back leg up to hip height, rotate the chest open, and extend the arms. Same shape as triangle just tipped upside down. If you'd like, stay here with that top leg extended or bend the top knee, catch the foot and open the chest Chapassana kicking back any amount through the backion. And try to maintain the right toes and knee facing forward. Take one more breath.

Good. Extend long through the left leg. If it's not, bend into your right knee. Rise all the way to stand. I'm traveling with my block, lift the chest up, and then fold forward Sarita Pata Tannasana. Fold down, maybe the forehead rests on the block or the floor.

Take just one more breath here. Walk over towards your left shin. Fold down the left leg. One more breath. Length, and the spine pivot around to the left foot plant, your palm step to plank, shift forward as you breathe in, exhale chaturanga, inhale upward facing dog, exhale downward facing dog.

Lift your left leg with your inhale. Exhale step forward, ground the back heel, and reach the arms up warrior 1. As you exhale, open up warrior 2. You might have to lengthen the stance so the knee stays over the ankle. Flip the left palm, inhale reverse warrior, come back up to warrior 2, and then straighten both legs.

He'll toe the back foot and back toes can angle in slightly. That will help to deepen this left hip crease. Reach through the left side body, keep the chest open. And once again, I'm going to use my block, but you can land your hand on the shin or the ground. And then stack your arms as you extend up through the top arm, melt the top ribs down. So we're trying to lengthen both sides of the waist and then lean back as if there were a wall behind you. So you're rotating the chest activating the thighs.

One more breath. Maybe gaze up if it's alright on your neck. Keep the chest open. Take the right hand to the hip, gaze down. Bend your front knee traveling with or without your block. Step up into half moon, try to keep your left toes and knees straight ahead so that left outer hip is wrapping back.

Right leg is active and hip height. Draw the navel in. So if you're staying in the classic, you can reach your top arm up. If you're moving into Chipasana, bend your top knee, catch the shin or ankle. Start to kick back through the top leg.

Open the chest. Keep that rotation in the right chest up towards the ceiling as the left big toe heavies. One more breath. Good. If you have Chapasana, extend long through the right leg. Bend your left knee. Step all the way back up.

Pivot the left hose forward, hands to hips, lift the chest, and bow forward. One more time, lengthen, unfold center, crowded ahead towards the floor, inner shoulders lift, and then walk over towards your right shin Just to notice the difference in the side body and the hamstrings that inner grind as you take an asymmetric fold. One more breath. And then come back through center. Lengthen, bring your hands to your hips, and rise all the way up to stand, and then step or hop the feet together standing tall and make your way to the top of the mat standing in Tedasana.

Take a moment to ground and breathe. Adding on, bend your knees, uttkitasana, reach your arms up as you exhale bow forward and fold. Inhale lengthen either step or jump back landing right in Chaturanga as you exhale. Inhale upward facing dog, Exhale downward facing dog. Right leg lifts with your inhale.

Step your right foot forward, ground the back heel, rise to warrior 1, interlace the hand's right thumb on top behind the back Roll the shoulder heads back lift the chest. Bow forward humble warrior keeps sealing the pinky edge of the back foot. Spread the toes and drop the crown. Try to keep space in the neck so that the inner shoulders are lift away from the ears. One more breath.

Release the hands to the grounder blocks, spin to the ball of the back foot, standing split. One or two hands might fold behind your calf. If you wanna play with the balance, Keep extending long through the left leg. One more breath. Release the hands.

Step back to a low lunge, drop the back knee, either stay here, or you can widen the right foot out, press into the inner knee, and breathe here. Option a, b, you might reach back and catch the foot. If you wanna take it a little deeper, you can lower to your left forearm and bring the heel to the glute. Take one more breath. If you have the quad stretch, gently release the back foot, plant the palms inhale to plank, shift forward exhale lower chaturanga over the toes up dog.

And hips back downward dog on your inhale, lift your left leg, x hail step through warrior 1, ground the back heel, inhale, reach your arms up. As you interlace the hands behind the back left thumb on top, broaden the chest, roll the shoulder heads back, and then hinge over your front thigh, humble warrior, releasing the crown towards the floor. Be aware from side to side from breath to breath what shows up. Spread the toes. Take one more breath.

Release the hands, spin to the ball of the back foot, standing split, 1 or 2 hands might come behind your left calf playing with a balance. Keep the back of the neck long. Lift from the inner right thigh last breath. And then bend your left knee step back lower the right knee, you can stay here in the hip flexor stretch. You can widen your left foot, turn the toes out, press the knee out.

Or you might bend the back knee, catch the foot, staying here, or lowering to the forearm. You can also come up to a block if you need more height. And then any amount pulling the heel towards the glute, keep the chest open, and take one more breath. Gently release the foot plant the palms, step back to plank, and let's go straight to downward facing dog this time. On an inhale, lift your right leg up and back.

Stay here. Lift your left heel high. See if you can lift your right leg higher. One more breath here. Step your right foot forward. Lower the back knee, like at the beginning, reach your arms up.

Hands release half or a full split. So I'm gonna use blocks for this straight in the front leg. You can rock back and forth like we did earlier moving dynamically. You can stay here or start to slide your right heel forward. At the same time, we're trying to open up through the left tip flexor.

So you might wanna stay upright. You can also place a block under your SIP bone. If it feels good and you wanna slide further down, you can. Keep the chest broad and that left sacrum widening to the left. So we're not compressing in the sacral area.

One more breath, maybe reach up, seal the palms, Get release the hands, slide back to your half split. You can I'm gonna use the blocks for this Vinyasa step to plank on or off the blocks. Shift forward, lower chaturanga into up dog, gives you a little bit more space. Exhale downward dog, move them off to the side for a moment, lift your left leg up and back, Stay here. Just lift your right heel high, see if you can lift your left leg higher, push the ground away, lift your core. Step your left foot forward, lower the back knee reach your arms up on Jana.

Hands frame the foot with or without blocks, half split, take a breath, feel into this side, option a stay, b rock, or start to slide the left foot forward. I always go in little stages and pause. So check-in with your body. We never wanna overdo or force anything. Maybe you're walking the hands back.

So we're getting into the hip flexor. If we back it up, you might slide a little further down And one side will probably feel quite different than the other. There's a little action of drawing the legs together. Maybe reach up. Take a breath.

Release the hands. Slide back into your half split. Pull the heart forward as you're ready. If you'd like to take another vinyasa on the blocks, bend your front knee lift the back knee step to plank. Shift forward last time, exhale into Chaturanga. Roll over the toes, up dog, exhale hips back, downward facing dog.

Take a breath here. Lower the knees, and let's make our way onto our backs so you can set the blocks off to the side. Setting up for a bridge pose. So bend your knees. Have your feet about a hip distance.

We'll do an asymmetric bridge for today. So first tuck the shoulders, lift the hips, feel the hamstrings engaged, like, you're dragging your hands, heels towards your shoulders. And then tuck the shoulders a little bit more. Shift the weight into the left foot. Try to maintain a level pelvis as you lift the right knee option to stay here or extend the right leg long.

Lower halfway down and lift, working the left hamstring twice more, lower halfway, and lift one more time lower, lift, bring the right foot down, even out, and slowly lower down. And, of course, we'll do one more. So tuck the shoulders, press through the feet, Left the hips, dig the right heel down, turn on the hamstring, maintain a neutral pelvis as you pick up the left foot, option to extend the legs, stay here, or lower halfway, and lift. Lower halfway. God as if one side's dropping and lift.

One more time. Lift. Set the left foot down, lift a little higher, and then lower all the way down. Let's extend the left leg long, hug the right knee into the chest, take an inhale, just open the knee out to the right, Exhale cross it over the body. It can hold the knee with your left hand, breathe into the spinal twist.

One more breath. Full exhale. Come back to center, hug your left knee in, straighten the right leg out, take a breath in to open the knee to the left, and then exhale cross it over the body. And you can hold the knee with your right hand extend across your left chest and breathe into your left lung. One more breath.

Come back to center, hug the knees into the chest Curl your nose towards your knees and extend the legs long Letting go in Shavasana. Set it up well. Take a breath. Full exhale. And just notice how the body feels.

See if you can let go Any more doing. And just allow yourself to be here. In this rest pose, allowing the shoulders and the hips to melt into the ground. Letting the eyes fall back into their sockets. The forehead skin melts towards the temples.

Shavasana. Stay here as long as you'd like. I always encourage setting a timer for at least 5 minutes, taking time for you to rest And if you are coming to a seated position, bring small movements to the body. Roll to one side gently press to seated. And sitting up tall.

In a comfortable seat, close the eyes. Take a moment to just notice if you feel any more balanced, any more centered, as we split things in half and work asymmetrically to try to bring more symmetry. So in gratitude, join the palms together in front of the heart. Thank you for sharing your practice. Take a deep breath.

Bow the head. Namaste.