Trust the Natural Unfolding of Life

Hello, everyone. My name is Erin, and welcome to today's practice. Today's theme is trusting in the natural unfolding of life. We will be shifting our perspective, turning things upside down, And the idea is that we wanna have faith that things will work out, that everything is happening as it should and to surrender to either your higher self or to a higher power or just surrender into the moment as it is. So with that, allow yourself to find a comfortable seat, close the eyes, Take a moment to just connect to your breath, trusting that you're in the right place. Everything is falling into place as it should. And join the palms together in front of the heart. Maybe ask yourself what brought you to your mat today.

If there's something that you need to flip upside down to see from a different perspective, an eagle eye view and allow yourself to connect to your intention. Take a deep breath into the heart. And as you exhale bow the head, release the palm, softly allow the eyes to open. And let's interlace the fingers, flip the palms inside out. Draw the belly in as you lift the arms up.

Ground your seat. Take one more big breath. And then release the arms down, and we'll come right into a tabletop position. So spread the fingers and the toes as you breathe in, lift the heart up. And as you exhale press and around, either continuing like this, inhaling to lengthen or as you exhale, you can engage your core and hover the knees.

2 more inhale lengthen. Exhale round, optional hover, one more time, inhale, and exhale round. Tuck the toes, step to plank pose. Why didn't the feet just a hair? Try to keep the hips neutral, the core engaged, and tap your right hand to your left shoulder, and then left hand to right shoulder.

One more time, stabilize the hips, right hand, left shoulder, left hand, right shoulder, press to a wide foot downward facing dog, take a deep breath, lifting through the hips, If the heels easily touch spread and lift the toes, activate the thighs, and then inhale to plank, This time, bring your feet about hip distance, shift forward, lower halfway chaturanga, and pause for 3. Lyft the belly and thighs. If you need to lower the knees, you can too, and push back up to plank. Exhale hips back downward facing dog. Inhale to a tabletop position, come to the left shin, left palm.

Extend your right arm up towards the ceiling. Right foot is like a warrior two foot. Option to stay here or engage your core float your right leg up to hip height. It's like a kneeling half moon. Take one more breath.

Set the foot down, set the right palm and right knee down, come to the second side. Right knee aligns with the right wrist, stack the hips and shoulders. Left foot can stay grounded, or as you press out of your right palm, float the left leg to hip pipe. Elongate through the spine and connect your core one more breath. Set the left foot, left hand and knee down, tuck the toes, lift the hips downward facing dog.

Take a deep breath, Open the mouth, exhale. Lift your right leg on an inhale. Step your right foot forward. Either come to fingertips and stay here for a moment or reach your arms back. Last breath, either stay or extend the arms up overhead, stay hovering, hands release, step the back foot forward to the top in full.

Inhale art, uttanasana, exhale fold, rise to stand, reach up tall, side bend to the right, right hand can release deep breath. Stay for the exhale. Inhale back to center. Side bend left, breathe through your right side body, one more inhale back up to center, exhale bow forward and fold. Art a lengthen, plant the palm step right then left to plank, shift forward elbows, Ben Chaturanga.

Up dog or cobra, hips back downward facing dog, left leg lifts on your inhale, Step your left foot forward. Come to fingertips. Stay here or hover. Stay low for the last breath option to reach your arms by the ears. Take a breath.

Hands release step the back foot forward and fold. Inhale, Arda lengthen. Exhale fold, rise tall to stand, big breath. Palms to the heart adding on inhale reach up tall. Exhale bow forward in full.

Lengthen on your inhale. Step left then right to plank, shift forward, lower halfway chaturanga. Inhale to your back, Ben. Exhale hips back downward dog. Right leg lifts with your inhale.

Step to your lunge, come to fingertips, breathe in, straighten both legs and fold pyramid, Take a breath. Exhale fold. Moving between those two shapes, three times. As you bend your front knee, I like to hop the back foot back, sink into the hips, exhale. I like to shorten the stance as you straighten the legs. Twice more, inhale, bend the front knee, exhale, straighten and fold.

One more time inhale, Ben, exhale, straighten, plant the palms, step to plank, Shift forward Vinyasa. Inhale up dog. Exhaled downward dog. Take a breath. Full exhale.

Left leg lifts with your inhale. Step your foot forward, come to fingertips, breathe in, pyramid, straighten the legs and fold. Draw the navel in, lengthen the heart space forward, and wrap the left tip crease back. Take another breath. And then we'll move between those two shapes.

So I like to lengthen on the lunge inhale. And shorten as you straighten into pyramid on the exhale twice more in how lengthen exhale straighten and fold one more time. Inhale. Lunch. Exhale stirring and fold. Plant the palms, step to plank.

Cat cow, if you'd like to skip a vinyasa. I want you to listen to your body here. And when you're ready, we'll meet back in downward facing dog. Take a deep inhale. Exhale. One more breath.

Firm your thighs. Lift to the tiptoes. Bend your knees either step or lightly hop to the top. Inhale, Arda, breathe in, exhale fold, rise to stand, reach tall, Palms to the heart take a moment to pause. We have a surrogate B variation.

So as you're ready, bend your knees, Uchka Tassana, chair pose, exhale fold forward. Lengthen inhale. Step or hop lightly through your vinyasa. Moving mindfully with your breath. To downward facing dog.

Right leg lifts on an inhale. Step your right foot to crescent pose. Inhale to rise. Exhale elbows, bend, shoulder heads back, left knee pulls into the chest. Option to stay right here, or extend the arms up and the left leg forward.

Kick back through warrior 3 inhale. Slow bend to crescent pose, reach up on the inhale, optional vinyasa, meet in down dog. Take a breath. Full exhale. Left leg lifts with your inhale.

Step to crescent, inhale to rise, elbows, bend shoulders back. Pull the right knee towards the chest option to stay here or extend the arms and the leg. Inhale kick back through warrior 3 chest broad, bend into your crescent, inhale reach the arms up, exhale hands down, step back to plank, optional vinyasa. Full breath. Exhale downward dog.

Take a moment to land. Full exhale. If your back is rounded, put a little bend in your knees. Lift through your core. Lower than these child's pose.

Take a breath. Full exhale. When you're ready, come back to downward facing dog, Lyft the hips high. And on your next breath, lift your right leg up and back. As you exhale, the knee will cross under the body to the left elbow, extend the right foot off the mat to the left, shift the weight to the right hand, spin the left heel down, fallen triangle.

Option to lower the right knee, a, option to hover the foot, b, or reach for the foot bring it towards the right arm, press the floor away, start to turn the chest open one more breath. Swivel back around 3 legged dog, step the right foot forward, lift the back leg standing split. 1 or 2 hands can fold behind the calf. Extend up through the top leg. Sometimes I like the forearm behind the calf.

To hold the left bicep and fold in deeper. If you wanna play, it's all about the exploration. Planta palms roll the inner arms forward, little given the shoulders, not the elbows. Top leg is active. And we'll take a little hop.

The bottom foot acts as a break. 1 or 2 times, if you catch some air, maybe the right foot meets the left fingertips are gripping the mat. Step the right foot back down, land the left heel, windmill up warrior 2, settle. Moving with the breath 3 times, inhale reach tall, exhale, rebound, knee over ankle, twice more inhale up, exhale bend 1 more inhale tall, exhalebend, flip the right palm reverse warrior, big breath, circle the hands to frame the front foot, option a, left palm down, right arm up, option b, spend to the pinky edge of the back foot side plank. Take a breath.

Lower the right forearm. Come to the outer right foot. Stay here with the left hand down or reach the left arm up. Be Press out of the right forearm and engage the right shoulder onto the back. One more breath. Form plank.

Take a breath. Lower the hips. Swinks pose. Deep inhale. Tuck the toes.

Lift back to forearm plank. Walk the feet in, dolphin pose. Take a breath. Maybe the feet walking a little further. Shoulders, press back.

Elbows stay in line with the shoulders. Try to keep the forms parallel with each other. One more breath. Lower the knees. Child's pose deep inhale.

Full exhale when you're ready. Make our way to downward facing dog. Take a breath. Full exhale. Now we know what's coming.

We can have some fun with it. Left leg lifts on an inhale. Nee crosses under to the right. Extend the left foot off the mat. Shift the weight to the left hand, back heel spins down, option a, option b, You can always put the knee down or catch the foot, pull it forward, turn the chest up.

We're having a good time. One more breath. Swivel back around. 3 legged dog. Step your left foot forward, standing split, from your standing elongate through that right leg option to take the hand behind the calf, I quite like putting the forearm there taking the left hand to the bicep and folding in deeper.

As you open the hamstring, it does become easier to get upside down. If you'd like to play, plant the palms, take the left foot back about a foot, roll the inner arms forward. We're using the fingertips. The outer left tip wraps back. Little given the shoulders, top leg tight.

Little hop kick. Right leg gets the hips over. Left foot access the break. Maybe the left foot meets the right. Wherever you're at is great.

Once you're ready, land the right foot back into warrior 2, left knee bends over the ankle. Arms reach wide, subtle. Moving dynamically with the breath, inhale reach tall, exhale open and bend. Inhale reach up. Exhale.

Bend. 1 more inhale reach. Exhalebend, reverse warrior, circle the hands to frame your front foot, Open twist for the first option, spin to the pinky edge of your back foot, side plank, or that modified plank that we did earlier, grab the shoulder blade on the back, stack the hips, take a breath, gaze down, bring your left forearm down, spin to the outer left foot, you can always use your right fingertips or extend the right arm up. Wrap that. Top hip forward slightly and the inner grind back. Breeze.

One more breath. Bring your right forearm down, forearm plank, thigh bones active belly lifts, lower into sphinx and breathe. One more breath. Tuck the toes, zip up the core back to your forearm plank, walk it in for dolphin, If you need to adjust if the elbows start splaying out, you can walk them in. So you want your elbows in line with your shoulders.

The chest stays broad. So at any point in time, if you need to take a pause, please do. If you'd like, just extend your right leg up and back. Maybe you play with coming to the tip toes and back down to the heel, tipping forward and back. If you'd like to gaze forward and take a little hop, You can try your hop at pinch off.

Press down out of the forms, lift up through the side body, breathe, set the feet down, lower the knees, reset the elbows, second side, either dolphin, Left leg lifts, working into that split. Maybe you're just tipping forward to the ball of the foot and the heel. One more. Maybe you're gazing forward and taking a little hop. One more.

Oh, forced into that one. Alright. And set it down. We're not trying to force things in yoga, but I admitted it. Okay. So downward facing dog when you're ready. Take a moment to just notice the perspective that we have on things.

It's always good to just be aware. So as you're ready, lift your left leg, step to the top, pivot to the right, prasarita Pata Tannasana a inhale lengthen, exhale fold. You're welcome to stay here. If you've been on the mat and you'd like to practice your inversion at a wall, now would be a good time to go. If you have an inversion in the center and you'd like to play with that, crown at the head down, elbows are bent, inner shoulders lift, we're creating a triangle.

Sometimes I see people with the hands align with the head. And then they tip. So head, hands behind your head, elbows over the wrists, maybe the legs go wide, maybe they come together in your sheer shots and a headstand. Press through the palms. Live through the sideways. Take a couple breaths.

Now things do look quite different. I see the tree in such a different way. So at times, all we really need to do is look at things differently. Notice what we might be missing when we're seeing what we're seeing. One more breath.

Slowly split the legs. Land the feet. If you're up, straighten the arms, turn the heels and toes out, bring your hands to your thighs, inner groin stretch, If you want a little twist, you can dip your right shoulder in, press the knees out. Take a deep breath. Inhale back through center.

Let the left shoulder come in. Press the right knee and left knee out. And breathe. Come back to center. If you wanna go a little deeper, forearms to thighs.

So the question is what are we seeing and what are we not seeing because we're seeing the way we're seeing? So what are we missing? One more breath. Alright. Slowly rise. Turn the feet. Step the feet together, and we're gonna make our way onto your back.

Just a little bit more core since, you know, everybody wanted core today. Alright. Extend the legs up, hands behind the head, elbows wide. Inhale. Exhale curl the head shoulders, tailbone, inhale lower, exhale curl, in the lower. One more curl holds here for 3.

2, 1, lower down, and then let's extend the left leg forward hover. Curl the head shoulders up, reach the left arm outside the right thigh. If you need to, you can always put the left foot down Stay twisting to the right, right leg lowers optionally for 3, right leg lifts, lower for 2, exhale lift inhale lower last one, exhale lift come back to center, lower head shoulders, 3 centered, head shoulders, tailbone curl. Inhale lower, exhale curl, inhale lower, exhale curl, inhale lower. This time, keep the left leg lifted, extend the right leg forward in the l.

Here's our handstand. Curl the shoulder blades. Well, here's our handstand. Right arm reaches outside the left leg. Always feel free to put your right foot down. If you're staying stay, if you're lowering left leg only lowers, keep twisting.

Exhale left leg up. 2 more left leg lowers. Exhale lift. 1 more left leg lowers. Left leg lifts, come back to center, hug your knees into your chest, plant the feet last little bit, Inhale here, exhale curl just the head shoulders for 4.

Inhale down, exhale curl 3. Inhale lower, exhale curl 2, draw the navel down inhale lower. Keep the neck long, exhale, lower and 4 pulses for 4, 3. 2. 1. Lower.

Connecting to our core, our creative energy, take a moment to pause, trusting that that was exactly what you needed. And then let the knees fall to the right. Take a breath. Come back to center, shift left, Come back to center. If there's anything you need before Shavasana, feel free to take it.

Otherwise, let's come into our final rest. Set it up well. Imagine that you are floating high above the clouds. Waitless, and notice from that perspective, what you might see. Sometimes we have to pull ourselves a little bit out of the micro view.

So that we can see more clearly. So as you float, let yourself dissolve away. Allow the middle tongue to melt back into the throat. Even the inner ear can soften. The lips, the teeth, the tongue, the gums.

Letting go take a deep breath. Exhale Shavasana. Staying in this internal space. Stay here as long as you'd like. When you're ready, Start to bring small movements back to the body.

Reach and stretch. Almost like you're fully awakening for the first time today. Bend your knees and either rock up or roll to one side, pressing slowly to seated. Take a moment to find center. To check-in to observe how the body feels, maybe what's going on inside the mind if it feels any different, any more quiet or peaceful.

And if there's something that we can bring with us off the mat, so we hold what we've gained from the practice. I think this is a practice that you can do over and over one after the next. Nope. I'm just kidding. But many times and and find something new and interesting. Right? So join the palms together in front of the heart. Take a moment of gratitude, deep inhale, Bow the head.

Namaste. Thank you.